The world has pressed the button to set the wheels turning again. Türkiye is joining this process with a new model: isolated production bases. The first of the bases whose standards have been set by MÜSİAD will open in Tekirdağ on 15 June. When the base closes its gates, it will have a completely self-sufficient production capacity.

Normalization steps have begun to be taken all over the world so that the wheels of production, which came to a halt with the coronavirus pandemic, may turn again. A different practice for the normalization process has come from Türkiye.

The Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSİAD) has turned the project it began 7 years ago as ‘Medium-Scale Industrial Zones’ into “Isolated Production Bases”. The project has obtained the necessary permits from the Ministry of Industry and Technology, from the Ministry of Environment and from the Ministry of Agriculture alike. Designed so that 1,000 families and approximately 4,500 people can live there, the isolated production base has been established with the logic of a living space rather than the logic of an organized industrial zone (OIZ).

The production base, in which the Logistics Guest House adapted for 14-day quarantines will be separate, will be completely isolated from the pandemic and from any other adverse developments when it closes its gates. In its report titled “Production and Investment Bases”, MÜSİAD shared the details of the isolated investment bases with DÜNYA.

Four zones planned, one of them in İstanbul

The first isolated production base, whose construction has been completed, will be commissioned in Tekirdağ on 15 June. The total number of planned bases is 4. After the 2nd production base to be established in Hadımköy, İstanbul, it is planned to establish a 3rd zone in Hassa in the south of Türkiye and finally a 4th zone in the Black Sea region. With its feature of being able to close its gates, the project will at the same time have the character of an SME exchange. It is planned that the base will house the sectors of the country that must remain vital, and that production will not be interrupted in any extraordinary situation.

Infrastructure to last 300 years, resistance to an earthquake of magnitude 8.5

The report prepared states that the isolated/sterile production bases will be able to run the entire production-trade chain from supply to sale under all kinds of crisis conditions. Employers will be able to do business together with substitute and complementary sectors. Workers will be able to be housed together with their families and to meet their health needs. Educational institutions will be located within it, a vocational high school will be present and the need for qualified personnel will be met. In a possible recurring pandemic or a possible natural disaster, all bonded warehouse, storage and sanitation processes through which it can close its gates and continue production inside will be managed. It will have its own filtration and treatment systems. The infrastructure of the base that has been constructed is designed to last 300 years. Taking climate change into account, sustainable production will be carried out. Rainwater treatment, water footprint, rain footprint and soil productivity will be in focus. The buildings, dormitories and health facilities in the production base are also resistant to an earthquake of magnitude 8.5 and above.

MÜSİAD will set the standards

The report emphasizes that the standard-setting institution of the isolated production base model is MÜSİAD as well. It is stated that the aim is for MÜSİAD to start rapidly expanding these bases across Anatolia and the major cities, primarily among its members and also among other producer stakeholders. In addition, the financing of the project has been resolved through investment venture capital and participation banks.

A proposal at the German Ministry of Energy and Economy

The report prepared by MÜSİAD also underlines that a similar project has been discussed as a proposal by the German Ministry of Energy and Economy, but that MÜSİAD's project is a model dating back 7 years.

THE GOAL: PRODUCTION-TRADE INVESTMENT SYNCHRONIZATION

In the report, which states that the problems experienced in investment and incentive efficiency stem from production, trade and investment being addressed separately and from the failure to achieve synchronization among them, it is said: “Yet these three concepts should in fact move along the same line and be fed by one another's data in order for sustainable growth to be achieved. With an approach similar to the supply chain, we give this flow the name ‘investment value chain’. The base we have established consists of sustainable investment bases that gather producers in one region like a ‘productionandsupplying cluster’ model so that the production-trade and supply chain may continue undisrupted in any possible disaster and pandemic. Because it provides production-trade- investment synchronization”.

EXPORTS WILL BE FACILITATED WITH A BONDED WAREHOUSE

A bonded warehouse will also be located inside the isolated production base. Thus export procedures will become easy and fast. Maximum product safety and sanitation will be applicable during packaging and loading. These areas will at the same time provide a partial free zone service. The procedures will also be open for sanitation and other inspections by the inspectors who will come from the countries to which the ordering companies belong. This will support reliability and reputation management in trade.

SINGLE-CHANNEL TRANSPORT AND SUPPLY SECURITY

The report emphasizes that thanks to this practice, blockages in the logistics system originating from sterilization and sanitation will be prevented. It is stated that a production and transport line has been designed in which all kinds of isolation, including 14-day quarantines, will be provided in guest houses where health measures have been taken, and that the logistics guest house has been established.

What will social life be like?

STORES AND SERVICES

There will be stores such as banks, cargo, PTT, spare parts shops, perfumery sales, a supermarket and a restaurant. A theatre, a cinema and a production museum will be located there.

ENERGY FACILITIES AND FUEL

The energy shortage to be experienced in the transition to an isolated, sterile production line will be eliminated by facilities that generate their own energy and by fuel stations. These renewable energy facilities will also lower energy costs.

ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AND SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION

A rainwater collection unit, a waste collection centre, the use of renewable energy, a recycling facility and the return to agriculture of agricultural soil to be removed as excavation material will be provided.

EDUCATION AND INTERNSHIP

Thanks to the vocational high schools and equivalent schools to be located at the base, both education will be provided and internship opportunities will be offered. With student dormitories for 1,000 people, education will be enabled to continue without interruption.

WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION IN THE LABOUR FORCE

Thanks to the nurseries and kindergartens designed within the complex, women's participation in the labour force will be supported. In the residences rearranged because of the pandemic, measures regarding social distancing were increased, and large rooms were separated from one another by being made suitable for more people to isolate themselves.

HEALTH AND SPORTS

With a pharmacy, a health centre and a fully equipped hospital, the possibility of on-site intervention in isolation, quarantine and possible health problems without going outside will be provided. There will be facilities such as an Olympic swimming pool, a fitness centre, basketball, handball and volleyball courts and a Turkish bath

FAITH

Out of respect for religious sensitivities and in order to fulfil the worship requirements of the residents in the living space, a mosque will also be located inside the base.

A symbolic key for Minister Varank

During his visit to Tekirdağ, Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank had inspected the prepared zone on site and had received the symbolic key of the zone from MÜSİAD President Abdurrahman Kaan.

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