Kayseri residents unsure of future
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Radikal
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 04, 2009 00:00
With its economic dynamism, Kayseri is one of the cities that inspired the term "Anatolian Tiger" used for cities where economies have been growing. Despite all it’s dynamism and economic growth, Kayseri is afraid of the economic crisis and says it cannot see into it’s future
Kayseri has found success particularly in the fields of brand awareness and creativity and it has been especially effective at keeping up with globalization.
Kayseri is a dynamic city, developing rapidly through its economic activity focused on production and exports, technology-based industry and collaboration between universities and industry. There are 16 firms from Kayseri on the Istanbul Chamber of Industry’s 2007 list of "500 big industry institutions."
Strong industry
Brand awareness is strong among Kayseri industrialists. They export 300 different products to nearly 150 countries. Furniture, textile, food, chemistry, metal, mining and electronics are the industry fields that come forth in the city. The industry driving the growth in recent years is furniture, thanks to the brand of İstikbal of the Boydak Group. The products of İstikbal are sold in 78 countries around the world and the firm has stores in many of them as well, including Greece, Bulgaria, Egypt and Germany.
Mustafa Boydak, deputy president of the acting board of Boydak Holding and president of the acting board of the Kayseri Chamber of Industry, or KAYSO, said his firm’s goal in furniture is to "become a world brand" and its aim is to increase its number of foreign stores to 300.
One of the main reasons often cited for the city’s economic boom is the Ahi tradition that has been dominant in both business and social life because Ahis guide their children to be traders and merchants from a very early age. Another factor is the foundation of the companies by many partners.
The dynamism of the economy features institutional organization. Two foundations are important in leading the city’s economy and developing it: KAYSO, and the Kayseri Chamber of Commerce, or KTO. The industry in Kayseri is moving toward nanotechnology and stays on the cutting edge of developments in informatics. For those reasons, Kayseri is investing in research and development. Deloitte and Education Consultancy and Research Center, or EDAM, released a report in January 2009 titled "A competition index for Turkey" in which Kayseri was sixth among 81 on the "creative capital index".
Globalizing and ’Kayserian’ identity
Hasan Ali Kilci, president of KTO, said the most important factors in the transformation of Kayseri are the city keeping up with globalization and taking the European Union membership application of Turkey seriously by managing the process to its advantage. For example, the Boydak Group is aware of their production capacity and product quality should be in terms with design and brandization to be able to compete in international markets with powerful players from countries like Germany or Italy. Boydak indicates the necessity of reaching the standards set by the EU in the process of brandization.
Despite the economic dynamism and shopping malls that have been built in recent years contributing to the city’s social needs, the culture of house visits is more dominant among people than "going out." The streets of Kayseri are often empty after dark. The city does not receive many immigrants and this structure has helped form cultural homogeny, shaping the city’s identity not around different people living together but around the ’Kayserian’ identity.
Despite all this dynamism and economic growth, Kayseri is afraid of the economic crisis that is getting deeper by the day. Boydak says they cannot see into the future and advises the government to reinvigorate the EU membership process, place emphasis on production and deal with the International Monetary Fund to overcome the crisis. Boydak believes that the EU project is vital for Turkey and there is reluctance about it for the last two years. Hasan Ali Kilci indicates that the economic difficulties get harder and harder for Kayseri and reminds that 80 percent of the nearly 200 factories at the Organized Industry Area opened three years ago are either for rent and sale.
Kayseri is a dynamic city, developing rapidly through its economic activity focused on production and exports, technology-based industry and collaboration between universities and industry. There are 16 firms from Kayseri on the Istanbul Chamber of Industry’s 2007 list of "500 big industry institutions."
Strong industry
Brand awareness is strong among Kayseri industrialists. They export 300 different products to nearly 150 countries. Furniture, textile, food, chemistry, metal, mining and electronics are the industry fields that come forth in the city. The industry driving the growth in recent years is furniture, thanks to the brand of İstikbal of the Boydak Group. The products of İstikbal are sold in 78 countries around the world and the firm has stores in many of them as well, including Greece, Bulgaria, Egypt and Germany.
Mustafa Boydak, deputy president of the acting board of Boydak Holding and president of the acting board of the Kayseri Chamber of Industry, or KAYSO, said his firm’s goal in furniture is to "become a world brand" and its aim is to increase its number of foreign stores to 300.
One of the main reasons often cited for the city’s economic boom is the Ahi tradition that has been dominant in both business and social life because Ahis guide their children to be traders and merchants from a very early age. Another factor is the foundation of the companies by many partners.
The dynamism of the economy features institutional organization. Two foundations are important in leading the city’s economy and developing it: KAYSO, and the Kayseri Chamber of Commerce, or KTO. The industry in Kayseri is moving toward nanotechnology and stays on the cutting edge of developments in informatics. For those reasons, Kayseri is investing in research and development. Deloitte and Education Consultancy and Research Center, or EDAM, released a report in January 2009 titled "A competition index for Turkey" in which Kayseri was sixth among 81 on the "creative capital index".
Globalizing and ’Kayserian’ identity
Hasan Ali Kilci, president of KTO, said the most important factors in the transformation of Kayseri are the city keeping up with globalization and taking the European Union membership application of Turkey seriously by managing the process to its advantage. For example, the Boydak Group is aware of their production capacity and product quality should be in terms with design and brandization to be able to compete in international markets with powerful players from countries like Germany or Italy. Boydak indicates the necessity of reaching the standards set by the EU in the process of brandization.
Despite the economic dynamism and shopping malls that have been built in recent years contributing to the city’s social needs, the culture of house visits is more dominant among people than "going out." The streets of Kayseri are often empty after dark. The city does not receive many immigrants and this structure has helped form cultural homogeny, shaping the city’s identity not around different people living together but around the ’Kayserian’ identity.
Despite all this dynamism and economic growth, Kayseri is afraid of the economic crisis that is getting deeper by the day. Boydak says they cannot see into the future and advises the government to reinvigorate the EU membership process, place emphasis on production and deal with the International Monetary Fund to overcome the crisis. Boydak believes that the EU project is vital for Turkey and there is reluctance about it for the last two years. Hasan Ali Kilci indicates that the economic difficulties get harder and harder for Kayseri and reminds that 80 percent of the nearly 200 factories at the Organized Industry Area opened three years ago are either for rent and sale.