5,000 green passports issued to exporters
AROUND 5,000 people have received green passports up to now as a part of the green passport issuance to exporters, and Istanbul leads the way with 2,628 people receiving the document, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said.
Zeybekci elaborated on the numbers of the green passport initiative for exporters and representatives of companies reaching over an average of $1 million per year in exports over the last three calendar years.
Recalling that exporters had demanded green passports for many years, Zeybekci said after the arrangement that 11,300 companies had the right to receive 14,664 green passports. Zeybekci said the process of 5,933 people has been completed in this context, and they can now receive their green passports. Noting that 4,900 to 5,000 of the applicants actually received their green passports, Zeybekci said that company representatives from 71 provinces benefited from it while 44 percent, or 2,628 people, are located in Istanbul, 6.7 percent - 396 people - in Bursa and 6.5 percent - 383 people - in Gaziantep, followed by İzmir with 373, Ankara with 235 and Kocaeli and Denizli with 175 people each.
Zeybekci said the number of people who have received green passports will rise from 5,000 to close to 15,000. “We are waiting for them, too. We are completing the process quickly as they apply.”
Meanwhile, according to a Cabinet decision, representatives of companies exporting over $1 million per year are granted the right to receive green passports in accordance with the export revenues reported over the last three calendar years (2014 to 2016). Accordingly, one green passport will be issued to companies with an annual export volume between $1 million and $10 million while companies with an annual export volume between $10 million $15 million will be given two green passports. Companies with an annual export volume between $25 million and $50 million will be issued three green passports followed by four executives of companies exporting between $50 million and $100 million and five executives of companies exceeding $100 million in exports.