Minister of Industry and Technology Kacır: ‘Our exports have reached the highest level in the history of the Republic with 260 billion dollars in the last 12 months.’

Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır attended the opening of the new campus of GE Aerospace Turkey Technology Center in Kartal. Minister Kacır stated in his speech, ‘Our exports reached the highest level in the history of the Republic with 260 billion dollars in the last 12 months. Today, our aviation industry, which is the leading sector in high technology in Turkey, has reached a position where it can develop and produce its own original platforms from scratch, in collaboration with main and subcontractors, SMEs, research institutions, and universities.’
The new campus of GE Aerospace Turkey Technology Center was opened at Maya Anatolium Tower in Kartal. Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Istanbul Governor Davut Gül, and GE Aerospace Turkey Technology Center General Manager Dr. Aybike Molbay participated in the opening.
Speaking at the event, Minister Kacır said, ‘By increasing our R&D expenditures from 1.2 billion dollars in 2002 to about 10 times, we have made a significant leap in our country’s scientific and technological capacity. We have enabled high-tech sectors to take a leading role in the growth of our industrial production through R&D and innovation. Our exports reached the highest level in the history of the Republic with 260 billion dollars in the last 12 months. Today, our aviation industry, which is the leading sector in high technology in Turkey, has reached a position where it can develop and produce its own original platforms from scratch. We are among the few countries in the world that can produce aircraft engines and test all kinds of aircraft engine parts. One of the significant players in the infrastructure we have built in cooperation with global players in the aerospace industry is GE Aerospace. In recent years, GE Aerospace has scaled up its operations in Turkey, believing in our country’s qualified human resources, value-added production, and technology development vision.’
We support GE Aerospace through our TUBITAK Leading R&D Laboratory Support Program, which aims to enable leading global companies to conduct innovative R&D activities in our country. Through the Layered Manufacturing Technologies Research Laboratory within TUBITAK MARTEK, we bring together the knowledge of GE Aerospace in the design and production of layered manufacturing parts and systems with our qualified human resources to support the development of new technologies and products.
Now, we are inaugurating the new campus of GE Aerospace Turkey Technology Center, which will host various advanced research and development activities based on sustainable propulsion and many other advanced technologies. I wish this center, which will bring together over 440 researchers to accelerate innovative work in our country’s engine technologies, success and prosperity.
I am sharing for the first time here the news that as the ministry, we will support GE Aerospace Turkey Technology Center, which will be among the 5 engineering centers of GE Aerospace on a global scale, with the status of an R&D center. We are ready to work together to position GE Aerospace as a global and regional production hub for our country in the next stage.’
Following the speeches, the opening was carried out with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Minister Kacır and his entourage visited the center after the opening and received information about the work from the authorities there.