Turkish Daily News 15 Eylul 2008

Urla to have its Silicon Valley

Monday, September 15, 2008

İzmir's Urla district is about to become a leading spot for Turkey's technological developments, as a French firm, CICOM, which supports technology zones in different countries, signs a contract with the Institute of High Technology to make 4 billion worth investment

IZMIR – Turkish Daily News

French firm CICOM, which has helped found 18 technology development around the world, will give its support to the Urla Technology Development Zone, giving it the potential to be one of the leading technology zones in the world.

In cooperation with the İzmir Institute of Higher Technology, or IYTE, the Aegean Young Businessmen's Association and the Aegean Region Chamber of Commerce, the French firm recently signed a contract for the investment.

According to the agreement, 25 percent of the company will be owned by the İzmir Technology Zone Management, formed by Turkish companies, and 75 percent will be owned by CICOM. After the completion of the zone, around $15 billion in investment is expected from companies.

A member of the İzmir Technology Zone Management Board and the rector of IYTE, professor Zafer İlken said the project would turn Urla into a center for cutting-edge technology, with over 250,000 employees.

�They will organize the region to provide services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) with limited research and development possibilities.�

Noting that in 2002 an area of 856 hectares surrounding the university premises in Urla was allocated for the zone, İlken noted: �University buildings will be used as the R&D centers until the infrastructure work of the region has been completed. Vestel and the other 62 firms work for the project with their 300 employees. Once the new building has been established, the number of the firms in the region will reach 80.

�We planned to found an information-park on the area allocated by Cabinet in collaboration with the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. However, we expanded the project with the proposal of French firm.�

Saying they visited �Sophia Antipolis,� İlken said: �Having six golf courses, hotels, sport facilities and closed areas, Sophia Antipolis is a place where 35,000 people live and work. We will build a more developed technology zone based on this French model. We'll build underground car parks too. There are both 500-square-meter residences and 50-square-meter studio flats in techno-city.

"Today, even mechanics build R&D centers for their work. Big firms have already solved R&D problems. So, we will rent the offices with a suitable price, attracting universities and SMEs to the region," he added.

Marina to be built:

Emphasizing the importance of historical and natural sites located in the technology zone, he said: �There is a Roman bath at the mouth of the sea and the brook which flows across the region. Thermal water springs from there and it is an advantage. French firm plans to restore this bath.

�They are also charmed by the location of our premises, situated near the sea. They intend to found a marina for surfing and other marine sports, but these mean a long bureaucratic process for us.�

Metro-line will be extended to the zone:

�The zone, located on the İzmir-Çeşme highway, is also advantageous for transportation. The metro-line will be extended to the zone. Ferries will bring people to the region and the construction of an airport in Alaçatı will be completed,� İlken said.

CICOM Director Alain Andre also said they were very pleased to sign the contract: �Since 2003, we have been working on the issue. We will announce the establishment of Tekbokent in Urla at the conference on world technology zones to be held in Cape Town next week. Urla teknopark will be the only technopark where private organizations and universities meet. We are working in 27 countries in the entire world. We will bring our experience here to Urla.�