3M to establish third super hub in Turkey

3M, the U.S.-based producer of a wide range of products from personal care goods to telecommunication systems, has chosen Turkey as the location for a $500-million regional production base, company executives said in a press conference Oct. 9. The facility will be built in the European Free Zone in Corlu, an industrial district in the northwestern province of Tekirdag, and will provide jobs for more than 1,000 qualified employees. The groundbreaking for construction of the facility is scheduled to take place in December. The investment targets 31 countries with high growth potential, including Turkey, said Giuseppe Castaldi, 3M's vice president for central and eastern Europe. "We call these production facilities with such a high investment and sales volume 'Super Hubs.' This will be the third Super Hub in Europe," Castaldi said, adding that the facility in Turkey is expected to reach an annual sales volume of $1 billion in the coming years. Turkey is positioned as a strategic production hub for 3M targeting the Middle Eastern, North African, Russian and European markets, Ilker Ayci of the Prime Ministry's Investment Support and Promotion Agency said, speaking at the press conference. Turkey has attracted more than $7 billion in direct investments from the United States in the last five years, $1.4 billion of which was within the past year, Ayci said. In the first seven months of this year, the figure amounted to about $1 billion.