Syrian businessman Mahmoud Zakrit, who took refuge in Turkey during the civil war in his country, has opened a new factory in Kahramanmaraş, replacing his factory that was destroyed in the war. In realizing this project, he was able to use a 50 percent grant equaling TL 1.25 billion ($480 million) from the Agriculture and Rural Development Support Institution (TKDK). This Syrian businessman's initiative of opening a dairy products factory in the industrial zone in Kahramanmaraş, gives hope to all other Syrians. Zakrit said that his two factories in Syria were bombed and afterward he immigrated to Turkey and chose Kahramanmaraş, as it was close to Iraq and Syria and the conditions in the province were suitable for his factory.
Zakrit said that he had the chance to start again with the grant provided by TKDK. The factory's current production capacity is 10 tons per day, and Zakrit said that they would like to increase it to 40 tons a day soon.
The factory currently produces eight different types of Dutch, French and Italian cheeses - Friolano, Emmental, Camembert, Gouda, Edam, Mozzarella, Hallumi and Akkawi. "The products we currently produce are mostly imported from Europe to Turkey, but now we can meet the requirements of the local market and our products will be 50 percent cheaper than imported products," Zakrit said.
Saying that their aim is to sell most of their products to local markets and expand their export network, Zakrit encouraged businessmen who have fled from Syria after the war statred to invest in Turkey. "I would like Syrian businessmen to invest in Kahramanmaraş after they get their documents approved. I can say from my own experiences that Kahramanmaraş is very suitable for agriculture and stock breeding," Zakrit said. He also added that since opening, there has been a reliable supply of dairy products and the cost of raw materials is very reasonable, which makes Kahramanmaraş a perfect city to invest in.
