 Turkish Industry and Trade Minister Nihat Ergün is seen in this file photo. (AA) |
According to the Anatolia news agency, Ergün told reporters Thursday that the IT Valley would cover a 1,600-hectare area. “Infrastructure for the first valley will be completed in 2011," he said.
A previous Daily News story reported that after the ministry announced in August that the Kocaeli province would host the IT Valley project, representatives from other candidate provinces – Ankara, Eskişehir and Bursa – allegedly started to pressure the government to change the decision. Still, the Industry Ministry insisted the IT Valley should be “somewhere within the Istanbul-Kocaeli-Yalova-Bursa rectangle.” Istanbul was not an option, due to a lack of available space and other infrastructure problems.
In the recent announcement, however, the industry minister said a second IT Valley would be established in Ankara and a third would be founded in the Aegean province of İzmir.
In a separate story by Anatolia, İzmir Chamber of Commerce Chairman Ekrem Demirtaş said İzmir is ready for its IT Valley.
In a written notice, Demirtaş said as 2011 kicks off, the İzmir Economy University, İzmir Commodity Exchange and other participating institutions would immediately start the project.
“When İzmir finally gets its IT Valley, this will be significant step toward activating the potential energy of the province. We cannot deny the importance of technology in creating, developing and sustaining competitive power, and in improving business processes and profiles. Therefore, we must work with all our might to create technology and the skills to use that technology. We must produce our own technology; that is for certain,” the chairman said.
Demirtaş also said one of the focus areas for the IT Valley to be established in İzmir would be technology for food and agribusiness.
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