Eastern Black Sea Exporters’ Association (DKİB) Chairman of the Board Saffet Kalyoncu, in a written statement, stated that 717 million 797 thousand from Trabzon, 140 million 85 thousand from Rize, 43 million 693 thousand from Artvin, 31 million from Gümüşhane in 8 months of the year. He stated that an export of million 695 thousand dollars was realized.
Pointing out that Trabzon’s exports increased by 16 percent and Artvin’s exports increased by 8 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, Kalyoncu said that due to the decrease in the export of mining products, Rize’s exports decreased by 12 percent and Gümüşhane’s exports by 31 percent.
Kalyoncu drew attention to the fact that hazelnut is the leading export sector with 363 million 671 dollars. Stating that aquaculture and livestock products are in the second place with 149 million 144 thousand 52 dollars, Kalyoncu said that fresh fruit and vegetables are in the third place with 145 million 445 thousand dollars, minerals and metals are in the fourth place with 96 million 275 thousand dollars, and chemicals are in the fifth place with 27 million 893 thousand dollars. He noted that the materials and products have arrived.
Underlining that 933 million 272 thousand dollars were exported to 132 countries in 8 months of the year from the region, Kalyoncu stated that the 5 countries with the highest exports were the Russian Federation, Italy, Georgia, Germany and the People’s Republic of China, respectively.
Expressing that the biggest problem of industrial exporters in Eastern Black Sea and Trabzon is the shortage of land to invest and the lack of sufficient land in organized industrial zones, Kalyoncu said:
“Developing an environmentally friendly, green transformation, high value-added industry in our Eastern Black Sea region and providing employment opportunities for our highly educated young population, which is close to 30 percent in the provinces of the region, will be possible by establishing new organized industrial zones in the region and allocating suitable investment land for investors in our country. It is our most important demand for politicians to produce policies, create projects and investments according to this situation, by seeing the future 100 years, as we have seen examples in developed countries, instead of short-term election winning policies.”
