Filyos Industrial Zone in Western Black Sea to draw $2B investment

As the construction of the Filyos Port, which will be the third largest port in Turkey, continues, the Filyos Industrial Zone in the port also prepares to draw investments.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), Minister of Science, Industry and Technology Faruk Özlü said the Filyos Industrial Zone located in the western Black Sea province of Zonguldak will draw investments from the ministry's investment projects.

Confirming that the ministry is working to found five new industrial zones across Turkey, Özlü noted that the Filyos Industrial Zone that is expected to secure a turnover of $40-50 billion will change the face of the western Black Sea and Zonguldak, one of Turkey's most important industrial cities.

Announcing that an amount of $2 billion will be invested in Filyos, the minister also said the zone will recruit 12,000 people.

The reason for choosing Filyos for such a mega-scale project, the minister explains, is the fact that Filyos is going to be one of the largest ports in Turkey once it is completed, therefore it offers great opportunities for local and foreign investors to establish a logistic hub.

The 670-hectare zone aims to attract investors from diverse areas of operations as it is a joint industrial zone.

The minister reckoned that the Filyos Industrial Zone project is as comprehensive as Southeastern Anatolian Project (GAP). The steel and iron produced in this zone will be used again by the industrialists of this zone as raw material. Moreover, the manufacture of electric equipment, machinery and motor vehicles will also take place in the zone.

The town of Filyos in Zonguldak will soon see the realization of an idea that dates to the time of Sultan Abdülhamid II. The Filyos Port, accompanied by an Industry Zone, will be among the highest-funded works of a state investment program.

The plan is based on the "General Production Report in Anatolia" prepared during the Hamidian era. According to this plan, an international trade and industry zone will be created, allowing ships to be loaded and unloaded by entering the Gökçebey district through water trenches from Filyos.