With the investment incentives provided, important textile investments have been realized in many different parts of Southeast and Eastern Anatolia. While the support programs implemented by the Ministry of Industry and Development Agencies and the social sensitivity of business people reveal the production potential of the region, they contribute significantly to employment. Mardin is one of the attractive regions for investors. Savur district of Mardin, which has been living with agriculture and animal husbandry until today, changes its future with textile investments. Izmir-based ready-to-wear manufacturer Akar Tekstil, founded by businessperson Hayrettin Akar from Savur; made its last investment in Mardin, Savur after Manisa, Kula.
The investment will change the fate of the district, and will open a job for 2 thousand 500 people in Savur with a population of 32 thousand. The factory started production with 500 personnel, and attracts great interest from neighbouring provinces and districts besides Savur. This investment will also contribute to the reversal of migration to metropolitan cities. Akar Tekstil plans to increase the number of employment in Savur’s rural Kayatepe neighbourhood to 900 by the end of the year and to 2,500 by the end of next year.
Explaining that they export to European markets, Akar stated that the main markets are England, Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, France, Belgium and Germany. Noting that they produce for many important ready-to-wear brands, Akar disclosed that they are among the biggest textile companies of the Aegean Region with a total of nearly 3 thousand personnel and an area of 200 thousand square meters. Akar Textile started production in Izmir in 2004, and commissioned its facility in Manisa Kula in 2018.
Target is 80% female employment
Relaying that they expanded their production networks with an aggressive policy in a period of increasing shrinkage, Hayrettin Akar emphasized that they will contribute to employment and exports, the economy of the region and the country with the new investment. Stating that they will continue investing in human resources, Akar told that they will create qualified human resources in Savur as well as in İzmir and Kula facilities. Akar said; “As in Izmir, we aim at 80% female employment in Savur”. Akar; “In our Savur facility, we plan to reach a turnover of 12 million Euros per year with 250 thousand units of production per month in 2020. In the next 5 years, we are targeting 60 million Euros by increasing our turnover target 5 times”.
47 Million 500 thousand TL Investment is LEED Certificate Candidate
The Savur project, supported by the Ministry of Industry and Technology, was realized with an investment of 47 million 500 thousand TL in total. This facility became the first textile company in the region to apply for the LEED certificate required for sustainable production and is in the process of approval. Only environmentally and human-friendly buildings, organizations that use energy and natural resources efficiently can obtain the certificate issued by the US Green Building Council. After the completion of the infrastructure works for the certificate, Akar Tekstil’s Savur Factory will produce its own electricity.
Akar Tekstil’s understanding of sustainability exceeds the factory
Akar Tekstil aims to provide employment to 2,500 people in its factory in Mardin Savur in 2021; while contributing to the region with projects that touch people as well as employment. Akar Tekstil managers and employees visited Kayatepe Sadi-Sabahattin Evrensel Primary School with 94 students in Kayatepe Village in Savur district; where the factory is located, and met with the teachers and students of the school. In the event, company officials gave winter clothing gifts to kindergarten and primary school students; while students presented the pictures they prepared to the company representatives.
Akar Tekstil General Coordinator Nihal Fidan stated that as Akar Tekstil; they carry a production and solidarity understanding based on human beings wherever they produce; and emphasized that they continue to grow with an employment-oriented and sustainable consciousness. Fidan said that they carry sustainability not only in production; but also in social life by going beyond the borders of the factory. Fidan said; “As Akar Tekstil, we adopt sustainability in all areas of life. We are aware and follow our responsibilities in our social ties as in production. We offer our endless gratitude to all of Mardin; who shared our excitement; warmed us with their hospitality and welcomed us since the day our factory was founded”.
“We will be a part of where we are with projects that touch people”
Underlining that 80% of the Savur factory employment will be made up of women; Nihal Fidan noted that women and children have priority in production and social relations. Saying “We will encourage our women to participate in production and apply positive discrimination on this issue”; Fidan added that they will be a part of projects that touch people alongside production in Mardin Savur; as in Izmir and Manisa Kula.