OSTİM's first cluster, the Construction and Industrial Machinery Cluster (İŞİM), is celebrating its 15th anniversary. İŞİM, which brings together manufacturers in the sector with a spirit of cooperation, synergy, and collaborative competition, has undertaken numerous projects to enhance its members' international competitiveness and increase their exports.
İŞİM celebrated its 15th anniversary with an Export Award Ceremony. Rewarding its members who contributed to the export drive, İŞİM presented 131 members with the 2023 Export Award for their export achievements in 2023.
The ceremony, held at the OSTİM Organized Industrial Zone Conference Hall, was attended by the Deputy Minister of Trade of the Republic of Turkey, Özgür Volkan Ağar, the President of the Ankara Chamber of Industry (ASO), Seyit Ardıç, the President of the Machinery Exporters Association (MAİB), Kutlu Karavelioğlu, the Mayor of Ayaş, İzzet Demircioğlu, the Chairman of the OSTİM Organized Industrial Zone Board of Directors, Orhan Aydın, the Vice Chairman, Sıtkı Öztuna, the Chairman of the İŞİM Board of Directors, Ayşe Saraçoğlu, the Ankara Provincial Director of Industry and Technology, Muhammed Polat, the KOSGEB OSTİM Director, Hasan Şenel, the OSTİM Organized Industrial Zone Regional Manager, Adem Arıcı, and numerous industrialists and business people.
60% of the sector's exports come from İŞİM
Ayşe Saraçoğlu, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of İŞİM, pointed out that the construction and industrial machinery sector holds a special and important position within the manufacturing industry due to its high volume of capital goods production.
Saraçoğlu stated that İŞİM is working to increase the sectoral competitiveness of its members, saying, “İŞİM’s policies include collaborations with public institutions and localization strategies. İŞİM also works to develop and strengthen cooperation among cluster members. Companies originating from OSTİM, the incubation center of our three largest Organized Industrial Zones operating in Ankara, are happily shaping their future expectations with our cluster, without forgetting their OSTİM roots. These mega companies in the construction and earthmoving machinery sector, which are now among the top 500, not only strengthen our cluster but also play a very important role in reinforcing the sector's dominance in Ankara.”
İŞİM President Saraçoğlu, recalling that construction and mining machinery exports in 2023 amounted to 1.961 million dollars, stated, "İŞİM provides 60% of the sector's exports."
Saraçoğlu noted that 131 of the cluster's 175 members were awarded for their contributions to exports, and said: “In achieving this development, İŞİM members have also benefited significantly from the support of the Ministry of Trade, KOSGEB, and Exporters' Associations in foreign markets and trade fairs. We express our gratitude to all of these organizations.”
Cooperative competition
OSTİM Organized Industrial Zone Board Chairman Orhan Aydın spoke about the importance they place on sectoral clustering activities. Reminding that OSTİM hosts 7 sectoral clusters, Aydın said, “Instead of destructive competition with each other, let's compete collaboratively. When we understand this, the concept of clustering comes to the forefront. Let's cooperate, let's join forces, let's do it together. Let's run together in a huge market, not just in this neighborhood, this city, this country, but all over the world. It's not a solution for 'mine decreases and yours increases,' but for both of us to increase together. That's when these clustering activities become very prominent. We strongly believe in clustering.”
Congratulating the award-winning companies, Aydın shared the following views: “Since the day our Ministry of Trade established this cluster organization, we have worked together diligently on the development of R&D projects in the OSTİM region. We host seven clusters to serve these sectors and contribute to the development and progress of our country. We are very pleased and happy about this. Seeing their results increases our excitement and energy. We are pleased to see that this is the right solution; I thank our Ministry of Trade for designing this. Our companies are working together with KOSGEB, our Ministry of Industry and Technology, Ankara Chamber of Industry, our universities, and all our institutions to support these efforts. To increase the fruitfulness of this, we will continue our efforts hand in hand for the development and progress of our country.”
“My Business has created a successful model”
ASO President Seyit Ardıç emphasized that clustering, defined as a production network formed by businesses that are related to each other and have strong ties, increases the competitiveness of both firms and the region and contributes to development.
Ardıç, noting that clusters derive their most important strength from the solid relationships and trust among their stakeholders, said, “İŞİM, the first cluster established in OSTİM, has created a very successful model. To date, it has made very important contributions to our region and national economy, and by increasing its momentum every year, it has become a very important link in the success of exports.”
Stating that the construction and industrial machinery sector has reached a level of maturity that will allow it to prove itself in global competition, Ardıç conveyed the following views: “The continuation of this success will come with supporting production with green economy and sustainable production technologies. The contribution of this sector, which will further increase its international competitiveness, to our country's economy will reach its maximum level. Cooperation between the public sector, the private sector, and sectoral organizations is more valuable than ever today. I wholeheartedly congratulate the companies that have been deemed worthy of the İŞİM Export Awards; I thank them for their contributions to our country's economy through production, employment, and exports, and I wish them continued success.”
R&D enhances companies' export experience
Turkish Deputy Minister of Trade Özgür Volkan Ağar stated that the Ministry's primary goal is to increase the competitiveness of all exporting companies, especially SMEs, in global markets.
They noted that they highly valued the activities of İŞİM, a significant center in Turkey's construction and industrial machinery sector established in collaboration with OSTİM, aimed at increasing the competitiveness of SMEs both nationally and internationally.
Ağar, drawing attention to the key role of the construction and earthmoving machinery sector in many areas of Turkey's economy and industry, said, "The sector, while providing domestic machinery supply, also demonstrates a strong export performance. Construction and earthmoving machinery exports, which have a significant share in our machinery sector exports, increased by 16.3 percent in 2023, reaching levels of 3 billion dollars, according to our Ministry's sector classification. In the January-August period of this year, this figure is approximately 2 billion dollars. The share of sector exports in total exports is also approximately 10 percent in 2023."
The Deputy Minister stated that clustering activities hold a significant place among export support programs, adding: “As the Ministry of Trade, we have been actively implementing project-based and target sector-focused R&D project support, based on the clustering concept, together with our collaborating organizations since 2010. With our R&D support, we aim to bring companies together within a project framework, increasing their knowledge, skills, and cooperation levels, and thus enabling them to gain competitiveness. Through needs analysis, training, consultancy, employment, promotion, overseas marketing, and purchasing delegations activities included in the R&D project, our companies gain a professional perspective. Our companies, which improve their productivity and innovation capacity, also increase their export experience. As the Ministry, we will continue to provide support with all our strength to help SMEs gain competitiveness.”
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