Siemens Invests in Turkey Despite Crisis

Istanbul, Turkey | November 28, 2008 by D-8 Secretariat

Siemens signaling their faith in the Turkish market

Europe’s largest engineering conglomerate, the German firm Siemens, is making a new investment in Turkey, signaling their faith in the Turkish market. Siemens Turkey CEO Hüseyin Gelis said yesterday that the company was investing some 100 million euros in the Gebze district of Kocaeli. “We are establishing a new factory in Gebze because we attach importance to the Turkish market,” Gelis noted.

Gelis said the factory would be one of the most modern factories in Turkey and in all of Europe. “We will continue our growth in Turkey; we are not only growing in Gebze but also in other regions of Turkey,” he said. Regarding the ongoing global financial turmoil, Gelis stated that the crisis would affect short-term investments negatively, but added that Siemens would continue its long-term investments in Turkey. He underlined that they were well prepared for the crisis, having taken precautionary measures, adding that they gave the utmost importance to following a balanced financial policy. With around 400,000 employees, Siemens is a global powerhouse in electronics and electrical engineering, operating in the industrial, energy and healthcare sectors.

The foundations of cooperation, or rather solidarity, between Turkey and Siemens were laid down in the middle of the 19th century, when the rulers of the Ottoman Empire decided to install telegraph facilities in the country. In 1958, Siemens established a company named Simko with Turkish Koç Holding. Simko became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Siemens and changed its name to Siemens San. ve Tic. Corp. on Jan. 1, 2001.

As a response to the global financial turmoil, D-8 Organization has been seeking ways to increase further investment and industry expansion in the member countries. D-8 has organized and discussed this issues in WG for Industry and WG for Energy earlier in Egypt and Indonesia.

D-8 Secretary General, Dipo Alam, said that Turkey has set itself as example for the other member countries in D-8 on how to handle the financial crisis. “Turkey has taken concrete steps to face the turmoil, and we hope that our other member countries will also formulate their steps too,” he said in his office.

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