Turkey a candidate for being the world's hub of chemicals

Speaking at a sectoral meeting, Turkish Chemical Sector Platform Chairman Murat Akyuz said chemicals sector in Turkey recorded $17.6 billion of exports last year, and thus became the second largest export sector in Turkey. Stating that the sector aims to carry out export totaling $50 billion in 2023, Akyuz said that the new investment climate and petrochemical plants would help decrease the foreign-source dependency in raw materials. "If we can create a suitable investment climate and convince giant global investors to employ here the experience they gained in their own countries, we can easily attain a high level in chemicals sector. The recent years have witnessed serious developments in sub-groups such as plastics, rubber, pharmaceuticals, paints and cosmetics. Chemicals sector will further develop with research and development activities in these fields," Akyuz said, adding that they established a help desk on REACH, an umbrella legislation dealing with chemicals within the EU.