Filyos Workshop, held on February 12-13 and hosted by Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University, aims to contribute to the Filyos Valley Project, which is one of the mega investments that will play an important role in the economic development of our country, and to ensure the use of knowledge in the relevant sectors within the scope of cooperation with universities and other stakeholders. During the workshop, answers to the pre-determined questions were sought with 54 (Annex-1) institutions/organizations and approximately 80 participants in 6 focus groups. The final report containing all the details of the workshop will be shared with the public in the upcoming days. The workshop, prepared over a period of approximately 3 months, ended with a two-day session. The opinions, suggestions and other issues that emerged in the focus groups of the workshop are listed below.

• Filyos Valley Project has been considered as one of the mega projects that will shape the future of our country as agreed by all stakeholders participating in the workshop.
• The main mission of the workshop was to come together the effort of the universities, related institutions and organizations and sector representatives to think and generate ideas with common sense.
• Turkey, which imports 99% of the natural gas it consumes, has imported approximately 800 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the last 33 years. Even the amount of gas just discovered in the Black Sea corresponds to half the amount of natural gas consumed by our country at the same period. In this regard, when the natural gas discovered in the region becomes operational, it is supposed to meet at least 30% of our country's annual natural gas demand. Taking into consideration in our rapidly increasing energy demand,

the importance of natural gas discovery becomes more of an issue. It is understood that the discovery of natural gas will be an effective step that will support both our country's energy supply security and macroeconomic targets.

• The potential of commercializing hundreds of high value-added chemicals and petrochemical products of the sub-sectors that are likely to be established in addition to the landing and processing of natural gas in the region also makes the Filyos Valley Project important.
• The fact that Marmara region of Turkey is the production base and that the high cost of the workload is increasing, requires new production areas have similar logistics facilities. In this context, the model of "R&D in Marmara, production in Filyos" can be considered as an alternative, and the Filyos Valley Project becomes the one/first example.
• The proximity effect of the Filyos region to Ankara and Istanbul will contribute to the production/distribution network potential.
• It is seen that the design, project preparation and construction stages of the Filyos Valley Project have been implemented with an environmentally friendly approach. The same sensitivity is expected in the subsequent works.
• It is essential to increase the promotion and visibility of the international potential capacity of the Filyos Valley Project in the future as well.
• Considering that small changes in comparative advantages have a determining effect on the direction of international trade, Filyos Region has the capacity to be a center of attraction for high value-added investments owing to its access to energy and logistics advantages.
• Considering both the location and other investment advantages of the project offers and also the priority needs of our country and the international achievements of Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University, the realization of investments in the aviation and space industry will make significant contributions to the economy and employment of the region and our country.
• It is necessary for macro companies in the region and supporting (sub-industry) companies to be located in the surrounding facilities, as well as to establish special incentive mechanisms and higher coordination units for infrastructure investments.
• The revision of the plans to expand the existing industrial zone within the Filyos Valley Project will pave the way for more employment and new production facilities to be added to the region.
• When the Filyos Valley Project is fully implemented, an employment of over 10,000 people is expected. For the needs of the population that may emerge in the region, a comprehensive preparation should be made in advance especially in the fields of education, health, social facilities.
• The Filyos Port taking place in Filyos Valley Project has a unique location in terms of being a logistics center. It is an outstanding project with highway, airline, railway and seaway connections. It is considered that the macro plans of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and the investments made accordingly are appropriate.
• Autonomous models need to be built in port management. In order to provide fast and cost advantage, a model for the management process from a single center is highly recommended.
• Filyos Port must be connected to the existing railway and road in the short term. Moreover Filyos, Mersin and Candarlı ports, which emerged within the scope of the “three seas three ports” project, must be connected to each other in the medium or the long term. Thus, the project will make a great contribution to the strengthening of the North-South and East-West connections.
• Within the framework of EU professional competencies, great attention must be paid to the certified training and competence of the personnel who will work in the port and logistics center.
• It is recommended that the formation processes of the certification centers for the manufacturing of machinery and equipment to be produced in the region and even throughout the country must be completed rapidly and a center in the region must be established in necessary conditions.
• Creating specialization areas will increase productivity.
• It is recommended that regional universities cooperate and carry out joint projects, support the development of projects for the region, and in this context, project incentives must be given through the region-specific TÜBİTAK (the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey), the Ministry of Industry and Technology, Development Agencies and KOSGEB.
• The establishment of supporting facilities (Organized Industrial Zone, Specialization Zone, etc.) around the Filyos Industrial Zone must be supported.
• Supporting university students with models such as internship/part-time work will contribute to the formation of qualified human resources required for production in the region.
• It is very important to open associate degree, undergraduate and graduate programs in regional universities and to establish units such as center/institute/department-program in Filyos Industrial Zone, which will help to provide the qualified internal power needed.
• In the forthcoming workshop regarding the Filyos Valley Project, foreign models must be examined and possible scenarios must be emphasized.
• The socio-economic, cultural, ecological and other aspects of the Filyos Valley Project must be discussed separately by the relevant stakeholders.
• The fact that the competent sector representatives and leading institutions and organizations cooperate and share their views in a synergy environment and that be aware of each other have made a very significant contribution to the development of the Filyos Valley Project. It is noteworthy that Filyos Workshop is the first in its field in terms of creating awareness. We would like to express our gratitude to all our stakeholders who contributed to each stage of the workshop and to the members of the press who contributed to releasing Filyos Workshop to the public.

 

Prof. Dr. Mustafa Çufalı

Rector, Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University

 

1. A) Universities
2. Akdeniz University
3. Bandırma Onyedi Eylül University
4. Bartın University
5. Ege University
6. Gazi University
7. Gaziantep University
8. Gebze Teknik University
9. Hacettepe University
10. İstanbul Aydın University
11. İstanbul Ticaret University
12. İstanbul University
13. Kapadokya University
14. Karabük University
15. Milli Savunma University
16. Ondokuz Mayıs University
17. Sabancı University
18. Sakarya University
19. TOBB ETÜ
20. Trakya University
21. Ufuk University
22. Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University