As Turkey seeks to increase the share of high value-added products in its economy and escape the middle-income trap to become a leading world economy, the country is partnering with Singapore for a new project. A petrochemical industrial park will be established in Turkey's southeastern region to serve as a model for further economic and social development.As Turkey's industrial production is mainly based on the 285 organized industrial zones across the country that have created over 2 million jobs thus far, the country's latest industry models will shift production from small and medium enterprises to giant industrial parks, boosting the share of value-added production to the economy. Considered essential to infrastructure that supports the growth of today's global knowledge-based economy, industrial parks are a concept known well in Singapore, the leading country in terms of industrial park development and expertise. The China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) is considered the flagship example of an internationally competitive, high-tech industrial park.SIP began in 1994 as a bilateral project between Chinaand Singapore and was completed in 2003. The project aimed to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship while attracting high-tech industries, especially software-focused information technology and biotechnology industries. Today, the park is the base for Fortune 500 giants including Samsung, UPS and Motorola. There are around 25,000 companies, 91 of which are Fortune 500 firms, contributing to more than $32 billion in economic revenue and creating 800,000 jobs.The Jurong Island petrochemical industrial zone is another shining example that turned Singapore into a leading petrochemical producer in the world even though the country has no natural resources. Singapore's government-owned consultancy company Surbana Jurong is the world's leading consultancy company that focus on infrastructure and urban development with extensive experience in the implementation of over 50 industrial park projects around the world. This is why one of Turkey's leading conglomerates, Aksoy Holding, launched cooperative efforts with Surbana Jurong to establish a petrochemical industrial park between the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakır and Şanlıurfa."Turkey must embrace a different industrialization model in order to move up to a higher league in the global economy. The model which paved the way for China and Southeast Asian countries to export value-added products within only 20 years was the industrial park model. Through the project and in the scope of the Turkish-Singapore partnership, we aim to transfer the know-how and networks from the Singaporean industrialization sector to Turkey while bringing the success story of Asia to the Middle East and Turkey," said Erdal Aksoy, Chairman of Aksoy Holding."If Singapore's Jurong Island, which does not even have a single drop of oil, can became one of world's three largest refining and oil trading hubs via this model, and if the city of Suzhou can be built from scratch in only 10 years to host 1.2 million people while reaching a $40 billion gross domestic product (GDP) via the China-Singapore joint venue, then I am fully confident that Turkey can establish an even larger industrial township," Aksoy added.Commenting on the joint project, the Singaporean Ambassador to Turkey A. Selvarajah emphasized that Singapore companies have helped successfully conceptualize and develop free trade zones, industrial parks and townships in China, India and Vietnam, and that today, Singapore is happy to share its experiences in this area."When we [Singapore] designed and built our first industrial estate in 1960, we were fortunate to have the advice and support of a good team of experts from the U.N. Development Program. Therefore today we are happy to share our experiences in this area with other developing countries and help them create their own industrial parks and economic zones," said Ambassador Selvarajah. "We have previously shared our experience in urban planning and development with Turkish officials. The know-how and concepts could be applied to developing new economic zones in Turkey, creating new marketplaces and job opportunities," he added.Regarding the outcomes of the project, the ambassador said that discussions with potential stakeholders in Turkey regarding a possible project in Diyarbakır are still very much at the exploratory stage, adding that it would be premature to provide any details at this point. In the meantime, Turcas chairman Aksoy said that he believes the project could potentially create over 100,000 jobs. "We believe that we can establish 100,000 direct employment opportunities to not only local people but also Syrian refugees via the ecosystem that will be established in the new city, which will be built at 1/50 the size of Diyarbakır within 10 years and have a $30 billion GDP per year. There is high demand for projects that will create prosperity and peace while resolving the refugee issue and completely eliminating terrorism."Aksoy also underlines that the impact of the project might be far greater than its economic outcomes for the Turkish economy, noting: "I have told the leading figures of the Trump administration that this project coincides with their Middle East vision. If the U.S. and Europe want the refugee crisis to be resolved, then they should support this project. We must create a Middle East that is a 'prosperity center' rather than a crisis center," he concluded.