The consultative meeting, where the 2024 activities of the OSTİM Organized Industrial Zone Directorate were evaluated and the 2025 work program was discussed, brought together representatives from industrialists, educators, academics, and public institutions.
Speaking at the opening of the meeting held in the OSTİM Organized Industrial Zone Regional Directorate Conference Hall, OSTİM Organized Industrial Zone Board Chairman Orhan Aydın stated that they needed the contributions of the meeting participants for OSTİM to move to a more effective, more efficient and more technological stage in the future.
Mission to contribute to the industrialization of Turkey
Aydın emphasized that OSTİM is a well-known, beloved, and appreciated institution not only in Turkey but also in many parts of the world, and stated: “We cannot limit OSTİM to just this geography. There are other cities and sectors that want to benefit from OSTİM's knowledge and experience. Our clusters also have a structure that encompasses all of Anatolia. We also carry a mission to reach out to other cities in Turkey and contribute to their industrialization and competitiveness. And that's not enough. When people from abroad see what we do here, they demand it for their own countries. We believe this is a duty that must be fulfilled for our companies here, for our country, and for humanity. We go to Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kenya to share our knowledge, experiences, and expertise to serve the Turkic world, the Islamic world, and humanity. We are striving to carry the OSTİM model to many parts of the world.”
Two indispensable priorities for OSTİM: Education and technology
Highlighting education and technology as two indispensable priorities for OSTİM, Chairman Aydın shared the following examples of collaborations they have undertaken to fill these areas with content: “For the first time in Turkey, we brought the campus of METU Technopark to OSTİM. We carried out a project that perhaps no one else in Turkey has done before to bring universities and industry together. We made Ankara University, Hacettepe University, Başkent University, Atılım University, Çankaya University, TOBB ETÜ, and OSTİM Technical University partners in Ostim Technopark. An interface where technology meets industry has been created in OSTİM, which is very valuable for us.”
"In 1993, we intended to establish OSTİM Technical University, saying that if fate allowed, we should try to make it happen. We were fortunate enough to establish it for the people of OSTİM. We built OSTİM Technical University right in the heart of the industrial zone, a university that other industrial areas also envy."
Highlighting the advantages that cooperation and collaboration provide to industrialists, Orhan Aydın said, “OSTİM has an ecosystem. The fact that all the companies in OSTİM stand side-by-side has another added value. Being a company alone elsewhere is one thing, being a company within OSTİM is another. That's why our companies here have grown so rapidly.”
“OSTİM will become a technology valley”
Aydın stated that OSTİM continues to be valuable and that they are continuing their work with the goal of becoming a region where technology is developed and directed.
Referring to Silicon Valley in the US, Aydın said, “There are already companies in OSTİM. We established OSTİM Technical University to help our companies. OSTİM will be a technology valley, a technology university. We laid the foundation for our new campus; and hopefully, when our construction is finished together with Ostim Technopark, this place will be a complete technology valley.”
Thanking the participants of the Consultation Meeting, Mayor Aydın stated, “We will incorporate the guidance you provided as a result of this consultation into our work. We need your wisdom, knowledge, and experience.”
OSTİM Organized Industrial Zone Regional Director Adem Arıcı emphasized that they also work to meet the demands of industrialists beyond the services provided by the Organized Industrial Zone. Noting that they also connect industrialists with the institutions and organizations within the OSTİM industrialization ecosystem, Arıcı presented the OSTİM Organized Industrial Zone Regional Directorate's activities for 2024 and its work program for 2025.
Following the speeches, under the moderation of Prof. Dr. Ünsal Sığrı, Vice Rector of OSTİM Technical University, participants shared their views and suggestions on the following topics: Urban Planning and Infrastructure, Environment, Security and Sanitation, Electricity and Natural Gas, Press, Promotion and Customer Relations, Clustering, Vocational and Technical Education, Employment, Foreign Trade and Export, Industry-University Cooperation, Project Support Office, Digitalization and Green Transformation, and Technopark - Competitive and Innovative Projects.
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