“Marble industry in Burdur will grow with two new projects”

Burdur is known for its marble and natural stone products and they constitute 83% of the total export of the city.nasuh Ekinci, Chairman of Burdur Natural Stones and Mining Association told that USD 155 million out of USD 187 million of export revenues came from the export of natural stones and minerals in 2017. Ekinci added that projects have been developed for marble and other minerals in Burdur and that production with high added values would increase with the Burdur Marble Palace and Merih Organized Industrial Zone (OSB) projects.

Nasuh Ekinci told that Burdur has rich marble reserves and is at the top of the list of cities in terms of the number of marble quarries and marble companies with 729 companies with mining/quarrying license, 690 companies with licenses for mining/ quarrying operations, 265 active marble quarries and 125 marble processing plants and workshops. Furthermore Ekinci stressed that the over 10 thousand people are employed in the marble industry and added “Our association works very closely with the natural stones and mining industries. Every year the first week of April celebrates the beginning of the marble season. We help all industry members in the best way possible to meet their needs for employments, trade, new technology”.

The goal is to have 120 factories and 11,000 employees in Merih OSB

Nasuh Ekinci told that projects about the future of marble and mining industry in line with the national and international sustainable competition conditions have been developed and the most important of these projects are Burdur Merih OSB and Burdur Marble Palace and added; “the project Merih OSB has all the sources: natural gas, fast train, and renewable energy sources. When finished the OSB will be only 15 km to Süleyman Demirel Airport, 10 km to Burder city center, and 130 km to Antalya Port . We estimate to have 120 factories and 11,000 employees in the OSB”.

Nasuh Ekinci also talked about Burdur Marble Palace and told that the project will help the marble industry to develop high quality products with high added values, to establish their brands and increase export market shares. Ekinci also noted that the project will also provide support to the companies in the marble industry to adapt to technological innovations and quality assurance systems, to increase their productivity, and solve problems in their labour force. Ekinci also told that Burdur Marble Palace will also enable collaborations in the marble industry such as those among Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Burdur Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Burdur Natural Stone and Mining Association.