Europort Istanbul 2011 Boosts Confidence in Recovery Of Turkish Shipbuilding Industry

“Turkey is a promising emerging market thanks to its solid economic development, its size and its geographic location. Europort Istanbul 2011 demonstrated the confidence in the recovery of the Turkish shipbuilding industry”, said Raymond Siliakus, Exhibition Director Europort, Ahoy Rotterdam. “The exhibition has again proved its position as the leading international maritime exhibition in Turkey”, he added, “with exhibitors who represented 753 brands from 37 countries and trade visitors from 37 countries.”

Also Esin Aslihan, Exhibition Director, NTSR shared this view. “The exhibitors demonstrated their positive business spirit in their stand presentation. Also the strong support of the Turkish Chamber of Shipping, IMEAK Maritime Chamber of Commerce, Republic of Turkey Prime Ministry Undersecretariat of Maritime Affairs, Association of Ship Industrialists, and KOSGEB underlines the importance of Europort Istanbul for the Turkish shipbuilding sector.” This was also expressed by Jos van der Vegt, CEO Ahoy Rotterdam in his opening speech: “We are extremely proud that, despite the economic issues that have affected the Turkish shipbuilding industry, the support for Europort Istanbul is strong as ever. Europort Istanbul takes place in the heart of the shipbuilding industry. Turkey has grown into one of the leading shipbuilding nations worldwide. Istanbul links Europe with countries in the Middle East, the Black Sea Region as well as with countries like Greece and Romania.” Henk Gennissen, Sales Manager, Kampers Pompservice BV said “I am sure that Turkey keeps playing an important role in the years to come.”

From 23 to 26 March 2011 all sectors of the global maritime industry came together in the Istanbul Expo Center at Europort Istanbul. 234 exhibitors represented 753 brands from 37 countries. The broad international interest for the exhibition was reflected in the participation of individual companies from a.o. Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Sweden, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Present with a national pavilion were China, Korea (Busan and Ulsan), Romania and The Netherlands. The 7.181 visitors from 37 countries included amongst others shipyards, ship-owners and ship maintenance and -repair yards. Some Turkish exhibitors characterized the quality of the visitors as “Turkish delight”. Many exhibitors were satisfied about the positive business spirit at the exhibition.

Elif Kükrer, Market Communications, ABB Turbocharging, Turkey: “36 Customers joined & honoured us during the exhibition. Accordingly we have tightened our customer relations by these person to person contacts. Also we have met with some potential new customers. For us the exhibition was a success and we wish all companies the same glowing feedbacks for upcoming Europort Istanbul exhibitions.”

Martijn van der Sar, product manager, Holland Cargo Pumps BV, The Netherlands: “For us the exhibition was already a success before it ended because we have had so many new contacts and amongst others a request for 2 new cargo pump systems.”

Cengiz Karabüber, Marine Manager Turkey & Azerbaijan, International Paint Marine Coatings, Turkey: “We exhibited as in previous years. This year we focused on environmentally friendly products and products taking care of customer’s future. And the visitors were very interested in our unique product Intersleek and new range of Uniprimers. We were expecting to strengthen our brand awareness & relations with key market players from shipyard to owners. Furthermore we used the opportunity to promote our advance technology products. I can gladly say that Europort Istanbul 2011 met our expectations.”

Mehdi Babaili, export area manager, Moteurs Baudouin, France: “This exhibition has been a good experience for our company. We have had many contacts with existing as well as potential customers and several projects are going on. It was also an occasion for us to show to our Turkish customers that we are a company they can rely on.”

Elif Kükrer, Market Communications, ABB Turbocharging, Turkey: “Many of our cus-tomers honoured us with a visit during the exhibition. Accordingly we have tightened our cus-tomer relations by these personal contacts. Also we have met with some potential new customers. For us the exhibition was a success and we wish all companies the same glowing feedbacks for upcoming Europort Istanbul exhibitions.”

Osman GÜRSOY, Naval Architect, Gürdesan, Turkey: “This years Europort Istanbul was incredibly and unexpectedly busy. We met with new people, other than the visits of existing customer. I believe it was fruitful.”

Andac Solak, Naval Arch.& Marine Eng., FURUNO/Özsay Marine Corp., Turkey: “I believe the 11th Europort Istanbul International Maritime Exhibition organized last week was very fruitful for the sector. Having such a level of participation to the exhibition is an indicator of the success of the organization. Once again we would like to thank NTSR and Ahoy for their professional approach. Even though the sector goes through a difficult period, bringing the suppliers, operators and shipyards together during the exhibition will have a positive effect on creating new opportunities. I think this years exhibition will bring positive results for the shipbuilding sector in the medium and long run.”

Ministerial support

In the opening ceremony Mr. Hamza Taşkeser, Deputy Undersecretary of Maritime Affairs of the Ministry of Transport stated the importance of Europort Istanbul as a strong international economic platform: “The exhibition has proved to bring high level business opportunities to our important shipbuilding sector. Moreover, Europort Istanbul is an excellent showcase to the world to emphasize the high quality level of our Turkish shipbuilding industry.” The other speakers at the opening ceremony were Serkan Tığlıoğlu, CEO of NTSR; Jos Van Der Vegt, CEO of AHOY Rotterdam and Metin Kalkavan, Chairman of Chamber of Shipping.

Comprehensive conference programme

The official opening conference Mare Forum Istanbul, held one day prior to Europort Istanbul on 22 March 2011 attracted some 160 key players in the global shipbuilding industry. Turkish shipyards and (international) ship owners, manufacturers, financers, shippers, politicians, regulators, brokers and journalists came together to discuss common challenges and strate-gies. The conference was chaired by Sadan Kaptanoglu, Managing Director, Kaptanoglu Holding. Other key speakers at the conference were Ugo Salerno, CEO, RINA SpA, George D. Gourdomichalis, President/Managing Director, G.Bros Maritime S.A. and Metin Kalkavan, Chairman, Turkish Chamber of Shipping. Also the specialist seminars and conferences organ-ised during Europort Istanbul 2011 were well attended.

Europort Istanbul 2013

Europort Istanbul is the leading maritime exhibition in Turkey. The next edition is scheduled for 20 to 23 March 2013 in the Istanbul Expo Center. The organisers are Ahoy Rotterdam and NTSR International Exhibition and Congress Organizers in exclusive cooperation with the Turkish Chamber of Shipping.

(MaritimeExecutive)

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Source: MaritimeExecutive, April 8, 2011; Image: EuroportIstanbul