 EYÜP SEVİMLİ WINS RENEWED CONFIDENCE AT İZBAŞ

• EYÜP SEVİMLİ WINS RENEWED CONFIDENCE AT İZBAŞ
• EYÜP SEVİMLİ WAS RE-ELECTED CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AT THE ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF İZBAŞ İZMİR FREE ZONE FOUNDER AND OPERATOR INC.
• İZBAŞ CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS EYÜP SEVİMLİ:
• “MOVING AWAY FROM INDUSTRY MEANS MOVING CLOSER TO POVERTY”
• “WE EXPECT 4 OF OUR PARTICIPANT COMPANIES TO START PRODUCTION THIS YEAR.”
• “THE PROCESS IS CONTINUING FOR OUR 153-THOUSAND-SQUARE-METER LAND TO BE INCLUDED IN OUR FREE ZONE AS OUR EXPANSION AREA.”

The 2025 Ordinary General Assembly Meeting of the İzmir Free Zone, which is among the most important production and investment regions on İzmir’s increasingly attractive northern axis, was held.

At the General Assembly, which was attended by a large number of shareholders of İZBAŞ İzmir Free Zone Founder and Operator Inc., Eyüp Sevimli, Chairman of the Board of Sevimli Deri and President of the Aegean Region Leather Industrialists’ Association (EGE DERİDER), was unanimously re-elected Chairman of the Board of Directors. At the General Assembly, the İZBAŞ Board of Directors was unanimously discharged in respect of its activities for 2025.

Speaking at the General Assembly, where İZBAŞ Financial and Regulatory Advisor Prof. Dr. Keramettin Tezcan served as Chairman of the Presidium, Eyüp Sevimli stated that 2025 had passed under very difficult conditions for all sectors operating in the Zone, and said that the economic program, which is approaching the completion of its third year, had imposed conditions such as inflation, high interest rates and difficulty in accessing financing resources on industrialists.

“INDUSTRIALISTS ARE CAUGHT IN A VISE”

Emphasizing that all industrial sectors are experiencing unprecedented difficulty in maintaining their exports, employment and production, Sevimli said, “As a friend of yours who has been in business for 60 years, and as a businessperson who has experienced countless crises originating both from within our country and beyond our borders, I must especially state that Turkish industry has never been caught in such a vise in any period.”

Pointing out that Türkiye has been unable to solve its inflation problem for 80 years, Sevimli emphasized that they voice on every platform their expectations that the production costs of exporting companies be reduced to acceptable levels, that loan interest rates be at levels that allow investment and production, and that the exchange rate move in line with inflation.

“MOVING AWAY FROM INDUSTRY MEANS MOVING CLOSER TO POVERTY”

İZBAŞ Chairman of the Board of Directors Eyüp Sevimli made the following assessment:

“As Türkiye, by moving away from industrial production and from our long-suffering industrialists who struggle to survive under all kinds of difficulties, we only move one step closer to poverty, unemployment and a shortage of foreign exchange. The share of manufacturing industry sectors in Gross Domestic Product, which was at the level of 30% in the early 2000s, has declined to 18% today. I would like to remind once again everyone who thinks that Türkiye can take part in global competition by deindustrializing that this idea will impose very heavy costs on our country and our people. I would also like to state that the adverse impact on our economy of the U.S.-Iran war, which has been on the agenda of the entire world since February 27, carries the risk of wiping out in an instant the hardships and sacrifice we have endured almost breathlessly for three years.”

FOUR FACTORIES ARE COUNTING DOWN

Despite all the adverse conditions in the investment climate, Sevimli noted that they continue to hold talks with many domestic and foreign-capital investors, and that they share İzmir’s and İZBAŞ’s comparative advantages and the investment environment they offer to companies with all investors.

Following the German-capital Böllhoff company, which started production last October, Sevimli said that they eagerly expect the Kaishan Turkey, Alpar Metal, Gico Product Service Solutions and Roll Nova İzmir Demir Çelik factories, whose foundations were laid in 2025, to become operational and start production this year. He also stated that İZBAŞ, which currently operates at an occupancy rate of 90%, is home to 165 companies: 140 domestic, 15 foreign and 8 jointly owned by domestic and foreign partners.

Sevimli explained that efforts are continuing for the 153-thousand-square-meter land purchased as İZBAŞ’s expansion area to be officially granted free zone status by the Ministry of Trade, and that they have simultaneously begun feasibility studies for infrastructure works at the site.

EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE WILL BE INTEGRATED

Stating that once the expansion area becomes operational, they will be able to comfortably make these allocations to investors requesting investment areas of 20 thousand square meters and above, Eyüp Sevimli continued as follows:

“With our expansion area, İzmir will gain a very important new industrial area that it needs, which is planned and has ready infrastructure. Our most important advantage at this point is that we will rapidly integrate our existing infrastructure, which is already operating flawlessly, into our new expansion area. Our water, energy, treatment plant, natural gas and telecommunications infrastructure are already ready. By rapidly integrating these assets into our new expansion area, we will achieve a significant cost advantage.”

İZBAŞ’S NEW BOARD OF DIRECTORS

In the elections held at İZBAŞ’s 2025 Ordinary General Assembly, incumbent Chairman of the Board of Directors Eyüp Sevimli was unanimously re-elected to the position, while İZBAŞ’s Board Members and the companies they represent for the 2026-2029 term were as follows:

Eyüp Sevimli, Süleyman Tahiroğlu, Marc Galiko, Abdurrahman Akay, Levent Balkara, Yunus Aytekin, Mehmet Eriten.