ASHİB Honors 15 Members

ASHİB Honored 15 Members The Mediterranean Aquatic Products and Livestock Products Exporters Association (ASHİB), which provided 524.8 million dollars in support to Turkey's 3.4 billion dollar aquatic products and livestock goods exports in 2021, honored 15 of its members from Adana province who achieved the highest export volumes. The ceremony also presented awards for senior exporter, innovative product and young exporter categories. Held at Adana HiltonSA Hotel under the presidency of ASHİB Executive Board Vice Chairman Ali Can Yamanyılmaz, the ASHİB 2021 Export Awards Ceremony was attended by Adana Members of Parliament Abdullah Doğru and Müzeyyen Şevkin, Adana Metropolitan Mayor Zeydan Karalar, heads of exporter associations, representatives of public institutions and civil society organizations in Adana, and numerous sector representatives. In his opening remarks, ASHİB Executive Board Vice Chairman Ali Can Yamanyılmaz emphasized that ASHİB, with its 82-year-old established history, has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign exchange for Turkey by marketing quality and healthy production in a wide range of products—from aquatic products to poultry meat and eggs, from honey to dairy products, from red meat to offal—in global markets.

Ali Can Yamanyılmaz made the following statement on the subject:

"Turkey's total aquatic products and livestock goods exports reached 3.4 billion dollars in 2021 with a 38.8 percent increase compared to the previous year, while our regional exports reached 524.8 million dollars with an 82 percent increase. The contribution of our Adana province to regional exports was reflected at the 33 percent level."   Noting that ASHİB continued the upward momentum in export performance in 2022, Yamanyılmaz stated that they reached an export value of 426.7 million dollars with a 22.16 percent increase in the January-September period. Recalling that ASHİB has implemented three important projects in Adana, Yamanyılmaz informed the guests about the Fisheries and Aquatic Products Specialization Organized Industrial Zone project, which will provide a 30 percent increase in Turkey's aquatic products exports exceeding 1 billion dollars. Describing the pond fish farming project, a first in Turkey, located in Karataş District of Adana over an area of 6,500 decares, Yamanyılmaz stated that they will develop facilities for the production, preservation, processing, and packaging of high value-added fish and aquatic products as well as laboratories and supporting industry facilities in the region, with a target of 60,000 tons of annual production and 250 million dollars in exports. Yamanyılmaz noted that the Adana Food Specialization Organized Industrial Zone, which will strengthen the competitiveness of animal food exporters in the region through a clustering model, is continuing its establishment process in Sarıçam district over an area of 2,000 decares.

Announcing that the cage fish farming project planned by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in the waters off Karataş and Yumurtalık will commence operations from the new year, Yamanyılmaz continued as follows:

"Our cage fish farming project with an annual capacity of 50,000 tons, which we are implementing under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, has matured. In this project, where all permits and infrastructure work have been completed, 32 investors, the majority of whom are members of our Association, will begin production shortly. In the first months of 2023, fingerlings will be placed in cages and raised in accordance with international standards, and when the fish reach the desired size, they will be harvested and exported to global markets. With this project, which will provide employment for 1,300 people, we aim to earn 150 million dollars in foreign exchange for the country's economy through the aquatic products we will produce."