During the 25th Anniversary Program of Natural Gas Appliance Manufacturers and Businessmen's Association of Turkey (DOSİDER), Chairman Ömer Cihda Vardan said that Turkey has been producing and exporting natural gas equipment, while these devices used to be imported 25 years ago.

"There is a market volume of TL 8 billion ($1.51 billion) in the domestic market. Exports, on the other hand, exceed $1 billion. With both domestic and foreign direct investments, our country has become the production base of Europe in this field," Vardan said.

DOSİDER is the umbrella organization for 29 companies that manufacture various devices used for the natural gas transmission and distribution.

Vardan noted that natural gas is used in the whole country with a volume exceeding 15 million subscribers and more than 55 billion cubic meters, adding that the increase in gas distribution expansion investments ensured the production of these products in Turkey. The country first started to import gas in 1987 from Russia. Annual natural gas imports exceed 53 billion cubic meters.

The chairman said that as of today, there are 2 million central heating boilers produced in Turkey, and that half are used in Turkey, while the rest are exported. He stressed that this development is not limited to boilers alone, saying there is a panel production capacity exceeding 22 million cubic meters with 5 million natural gas meters per year.

"With both domestic and foreign direct investments, our country has become a production base for Europe in this field. This is a sector that has made a serious economic contribution to our country. There is a market volume of TL 8 billion in the domestic market. Exports exceed $1 billion," Vardan continued. "A very important part of this export is going to Europe, especially to Germany and Britain. In addition, Turkey has received investment from the Far East, and we are exporting central heating boilers to China today."

The DOSİDER chairman said the sector has become a direct employer of 20,000 people, while providing 200,000 people with indirect employment. He underlined that all of these figures are of great importance in terms of positioning Turkey at the top of the world's economy league and reducing the current deficit.