The U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon on Monday opened its first logistics center in Türkiye, in an effort to support local partners and businesses and address soaring customer demand.
The fulfillment center in the Turkish metropolis Istanbul has been launched through an investment of more than $100 million (TL 1.84 billion) and plans to provide jobs to over 1,000 workers in the first year, the company said in a statement.
The site, as well as investments made in sales partners, are an indication of Amazon’s commitment to Türkiye, the company’s country manager said.
“Our new logistics base that is equipped with the latest technologies will make significant contributions to us in supporting SMEs that make sales over Amazon.com.tr and whose numbers have increased by 50% in the last year to further grow their businesses with our Amazon Logistics services,” said Amazon Türkiye Country Manager Richard Marriott.
“These investments we have made in our logistics base and sales partners are also an indication of our commitment to Türkiye.”
The base will provide opportunities for many jobs, from engineers and information technology specialists to teams responsible for selecting, storing and shipping products, said Amazon Operations Türkiye General Manager Hakan Karadoğan.
Amazon’s SME selling partners in Türkiye rose to more than 25,000, a 50% year-over-year, according to the company’s data. Their exports jumped more than twofold in 2021 from the previous year to reach $300 million, the company says.
Globally small and medium-sized businesses sell more than 50% of everything purchased in the Amazon store and account for about 60% of sales.
As part of its commitment to net-zero carbon across its business by 2040, Amazon’s buildings are powered 100% by electricity, including their heating and hot water systems, avoiding the use of fossil fuel combustibles (natural gas).
The company seeks to power its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025, reaching 65% in 2020, and is now the biggest corporate buyer of renewable energy in Europe and the world.
In 2019, Amazon co-founded The Climate Pledge – a commitment to be net-zero carbon across its business by 2040, 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement.
