Minister unveils plans to redistribute industrial weight in Marmara

ANKARA

In a bid to mitigate the potential devastation of a major earthquake in the Marmara region, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu has revealed plans to shift the industrial focus away from the earthquake-prone area.

"We want to dilute the weight of the industry in the Marmara region as much as possible and ensure that it spreads to Anatolia, namely Ankara, Konya, Nevşehir and Aksaray on a line. In addition to the earthquake reality, it is necessary to relieve the Marmara region in every aspect," Uraloğlu told daily Milliyet in an interview on Aug. 20.

The Marmara region, which hosts a substantial portion of the nation's industrial activity, faces considerable economic risk should a major earthquake hit.

"While it may not be feasible to relocate all existing industrial establishments, we can establish attractive areas for industrialists in Anatolia, thereby encouraging future industrial investments there," Uraloğlu noted.

The minister emphasized the importance of connecting industrial zones, both existing and new, to main rail lines and subsequently to ports. The move is being designed to streamline the movement of goods and materials, ensuring that industrialists can directly load their products from the zones.

The region with 26.6 million residents that last suffered heavy damage from earthquakes in 1999 is on edge, according to the repeated warnings by experts about the expected quake with a magnitude of 7.0 or higher.