A RISING ECONOMY: KONYA

Konya, which is one of the oldest settlements of the history of humanity by having served as the Capital of the Anatolian Seljuk once upon a time and known as the most trading and accommodation center of the historical Silk Road. Konya also hosts Mevlâna and introduces herself to the world as the city of affection, friendship and tolerance.

Konya which is geographically the largest city and six largest city of Turkey in terms of  population, influences and drives the region which it has been settled in economic, political and social facets.

Konya has been known mainly for its agriculture as well as its wealth of archeology. However, recent developments show that Konya’s image is changing from that of an agricultural region to an industrialized one. This is driven by new investments as well as the impetus coming from the traditional agriculture.

Konya which has been awarded as the investment city of future is the apple of Turkey’s eye with its powerful and rapidly growing industrial investments.

Konya, which ranks among the important trade centers of Anatolia, has made considerable progress at the industrial sector in recent years and thus it has become one of the industry and trade centers of Turkey. Its geographical situation and the international fairs organized in Konya, have brought Konya to an important status in the Anatolia.

Since the 1970s, Konya experienced a development campaign in every area of business. Following early investments in food-related industries (such as flour, macaroni, candies, feed and etc.), other factories have followed suit. Today, there are medium to large-sized factories in the vegetable oil, rubber, plastics, shoe manufacturing and other sectors.

Konya has become successful in economic development with its equity capital. Konya, with the developed Organized Industry Zones and the small industry sites accommodate lots of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and these enterprises create an important potential for employment.

Konya, with its civilization, cultural background, commercial potential and the qualified labor force, is a developed city. In production, there is a sectorial diversity and the industry in Konya operates within a large production scale.

In this paper, firstly the history and socio-economic development perspective of Konya will be given. In this framework, agriculture, industry and trade, the leading sectors, the organized industry zones, foreign trade, transportation and research and development facilities of Konya will be explained. At the end of the paper, the competitive advantages of Konya were summarized.

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