Osman Gazi Bridge attracts investors to regional industrial zone

Inaugurated in August 2016 and built at a cost of around $6.3 billion, the Osman Gazi Bridge has facilitated logistical operations for firms operating in the region while shortening the distance between Istanbul and Yalova.

The Eurasia Organized Industrial Zone (OIZ), established with an investment of TL 2.5 billion in Yalova, has already been attracting foreign investors. Two foreign investors have already taken part in the establishment of the factory. The 4-million-square-meter area has received a pre-purchase demand of 10 million square meters from foreign investors, while 12 foreign capital companies have also applied to invest.

Muharrem Çay, the marketing director of Eurasia OIZ, said the first foreign-owned companies to invest in the region were German Dresselhaus and Heinen Hopman. Dresselhaus, which will produce bolts, will invest TL 5 million in the factory alone, while Heinen Hopman will invest TL 8 million in the shipbuilding subindustry. "Twelve foreign companies are next in line. They also want to produce subindustry products especially for main industries," Çay said, adding that the Italian paint chemical firm La Moravia, which was previously acquired by Turks, also made a factory investment by purchasing land worth TL 3 million in the OIZ.

"Our price per square meter is TL 595. Therefore, investments are increasing. Some 20,000 people will be employed in the entire zone," he continued, informing that there are 191 parcels on an area of 4 million square meters. A total of 850,000 square meters were allocated for 35 factories, Çay further explained, adding that LC Waikiki will establish an operation center, and eight companies are in the project stage at the special zone for the shipbuilding industry, while Çelikel and Ünüvar will establish factories in the automotive supply industry.

Osman Gazi Bridge, a landmark road bridge over Turkey's Marmara Sea, cuts travel time between Istanbul and the country's western provinces. It opened to traffic on June 30, forming part of a new six-lane Istanbul-Izmir highway, with a cost of around $6.3 billion. Completed within a 39-month period, Osman Gazi Bridge aims to decrease the over-concentration of industrial operations in Kocaeli's Gebze and Dilovası districts.

The 421-kilometer highway project is being built through a public-private partnership as the first road project in the country to be procured under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model.