Energy zone project for Ceyhan gets jump-start

ADANA - Anatolia News Agency

The work at the Ceyhan Special Energy Zone, a project to attract billions of dollars in energy investments, has been sped up following Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s orders in May, according to Adana Chamber of Industry chairman (ADASO) Sadi Sürenkök.

Sürenkök said that the decision to make Ceyhan a Special Energy Zone, similar to the energy hub in the Dutch city of Rotterdam, was made back in 2004 by the government, and was later approved by the Cabinet on July 19, 2007. Progress since then, however, has been very slow due to infrastructural problems and a lack of coordination, Sürenkök said. Therefore, when Erdoğan visited the region back in May, ADASO gave him a full run down of the issues and presented him with a report.

“After our Prime Minister’s orders there has been rapid development here. In the past three months we have been able to achieve what we had not been able to achieve in five years and have doubled our work efforts,” said Sürenkök.

Since May there have been four meetings, both in Adana and Ankara, and an action plan has been drafted, explained Sürenkök. Each ministry and organization’s responsibilities have been noted and a timeline has also been prepared accordingly.

Sürenkök also said that last week a large delegation of investors had applied to them for 1,000 acres of land, and that Ceyhan would be able to add a great deal to Adana if coordination was achieved.