The Anatolian Rail Transportation Systems Cluster (ARUS), together with the Industrial Cooperation Programs Department of the Ministry of Industry and Technology, organized an Industrial Cooperation Projects (ICP) Workshop in OSTİM.
In his opening remarks at the workshop, ARUS Coordinator Dr. İlhami Pektaş provided information about rail systems and domestic production in Turkey, stating that the costs of rail systems can be halved with the condition of domestic contribution.
Referring to the contributions of localization of rail systems to the country's economy, Pektaş said to ARUS members, "Thanks to you, we have started to bring our domestic and national products to our cities."
There are 12 municipalities that use rail systems.
Pektaş pointed out that between 1980 and 2012, 7 billion Euros were spent on rail system vehicles in Turkey, and 15 billion Euros on repair and maintenance, adding that a 100 billion Euro investment is planned for rail systems by 2035. Pektaş emphasized that the vehicles to be acquired will be domestically produced and nationalized with the contributions of the Ministry of Industry and Technology and ARUS members.
Pektaş emphasized that the Industrial Cooperation Projects (SIP), initiated to promote the use of domestic and national products in public procurement, offer advantages to municipalities in preferring domestic products in rail system tenders, stating, "We have 12 municipalities using rail systems. Domestic components are present in the rail systems used in Istanbul, Bursa, Kocaeli, Kayseri, Samsun, Antalya, and İzmir."
“51 percent had experience with industrialization”
OSTİM Chairman Orhan Aydın recalled the late Prof. Dr. Sedat Çelikdoğan's work on the localization of rail systems.
Aydın explained that they had localized nearly 200 parts of the Ankara Metro, saying, “With the support and contribution of our Ankara Chamber of Industry (ASO) President, Mr. Nurettin Özdebir, we worked to include a 51% domestic content requirement in the Ankara Metro tender. The Ministry included this condition in the metro tender, and a paradigm shift occurred in Turkey. It was also an industrialization experience for us. The way foreign companies look at us has changed significantly. ARUS emerged from this ecosystem.”
Aydın emphasized that with the developments in the sector, companies like Bozankaya and Durmazlar have emerged to produce all rail systems domestically, stating, “We can produce the vehicles that municipalities need with our companies. We have reached this point now. The contributions of our colleagues at the Ministry of Industry and Technology have been very significant in this. We can seize the opportunity we missed in the automotive sector here. We will do it, there is no other way.”
Aydın pointed out that domestic firms that win the rail system tender should also prioritize using other domestic firms for procurement.
It will be the first of its kind in Turkey
Serkan Salmaz, an official from Samsun Municipality's SAMULAŞ A.Ş., stated that they own a total of 29 vehicles from three different brands. Salmaz explained that the cost of stocking spare parts for these vehicles is high, which is why they have focused on localization efforts.
Salmaz noted that they carried out the wheel bandaging work with local companies and emphasized that they wanted to meet with companies that could contribute to SAMULAŞ in terms of localization.
Stating that localization efforts are important for the sustainability and economic viability of services, Serkan Salmaz said, “We will procure 11 rail system vehicles with the SIP model. This will be a first in Turkey.”
“We need to consider whether there are any local alternatives.”
ASO President Nurettin Özdebir stated that today's economic problems can be overcome by using domestic and national products. Özdebir said, "Each of the 81 million people should think, 'Is there a domestic version of this?' when buying even the smallest thing."
Özdebir, pointing to increased production as a solution to the current account deficit problem, stated that the 51% domestic content requirement is now becoming a minimum condition in many tenders.
Highlighting the successes in the defense industry, Özdebir emphasized that Turkey has regained its self-confidence through these efforts. Özdebir continued: “We need to be able to produce many more things domestically in this country. The capabilities of our people are far beyond what they are now. Countries that don't produce are doomed to be ruled by others. Because sometimes, even if you have the money, they won't give it to you. Even if they do give it to you, they apply different prices because you can't produce it. They try to sell a product to us for 15 lira that they sell to Germany for 10 lira, and to Africa for 20 lira. These meetings are extremely important in preventing this.”
Özdebir, recalling the metro trains that Bozankaya built in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, emphasized that the vehicles were of incomparably higher quality than those purchased in Turkey. Özdebir also reminded that domestic companies should show maximum effort in localization efforts.
“Tenders should be consolidated”
Ismail Aktaş, Head of the Transportation Vehicles Department at the General Directorate of Industry and Productivity of the Ministry of Industry and Technology, stated that they are working to develop the industry and enable it to compete internationally. Aktaş added that their primary goal is to use products manufactured in Turkey.
Aktaş stated that public procurement is the most important tool for the competitiveness of the industry, and added, "We want to develop our industry through public procurement and increase the availability of these systems in our inventory."
Aktaş stated that they had identified a lack of planning in rail systems, and continued: “We believe that tenders need to be consolidated. We operate as a public sector. Public procurement is a huge opportunity for us. One of the most important tools of our Ministry to take advantage of this is the Public Procurement Plan (PPP). This was officially approved by the Council of Ministers in February 2018. It was also approved by the President, and the regulation came into effect.”
The share of SMEs is determined by the SIP (Strategic Investment Plan).
Hande Ünal, Head of the Industrial Cooperation Projects Department at the Ministry of Industry and Technology, provided information on the implementation and principles of Industrial Cooperation Projects. Underlining that Industrial Cooperation Projects are a procurement model stemming from an exception in the Public Procurement Law, Ünal explained that in normal public tenders, the entire process is carried out within the relevant administration.
Ünal stated that the industrial and technological participation section within each tender in the SIP (Strategic Investment Program) is now managed by the Ministry of Industry and Technology, adding, “Our administration, which will make purchases under the SIP, must coordinate the processes of opening the tender, receiving bids, and evaluating the relevant company with our Ministry. We determine issues such as which parts of the product must be domestically produced, whether there will be an export and technological cooperation dimension, how the subcontractors will participate, and how much of the work share will be given to our SMEs.”
Officials from the Ministry of Industry and Technology briefed ARUS members on the Strategic Investment Plan (SIP). ARUS members then held bilateral business meetings.
159 job interviews were conducted.
Samsun Metropolitan Municipality is required to have a 70% domestic content requirement for the 11 trams to be purchased under the SIP (Strategic Investment Program). ARUS member companies Durmazlar and Bozankaya held 159 bilateral business meetings with companies from all over Anatolia at the OSTİM OSB Conference Hall to meet this requirement. ARUS members provided detailed information about their products and production capabilities to the officials of Durmazlar and Bozankaya companies.
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