At the meeting held at Mardin Ramada Hotel and attended by business people, logistics companies and international transportation companies operating in Mardin and other regions of the Southeastern Anatolia Region; the meeting covered the characteristics of İskenderun Limakport, its advantages over Mersin port, its services and financial advantages for the Iraqi transit. In addition to providing information, the regional commercial development plan was discussed.
Mardin Artuklu District Mayor Abdulkadir Tutaşı, Deputy Governor Coşkun Öztürk, Derik District Governor Hakan Kafkas, Ak Party Provincial President Faruk Kılıç, Limakport İskenderun Port General Manager Gündüz Arısoy, Limakport İskenderun Port Deputy General Manager Mehmet Ünlü, Mardin Entrepreneur Business People Association Founding Member, Vice President and MUSİAD Logistics President Ercan Kasap, UND President Tahir Aydoğan, Business people, NGOs and guests attended.
Speaking at the meeting, General Director of İskenderun Limakport Gündüz Arısoy talked of the commercial advantages of Limakport, which is the nearest port to Khabur Border gate and has been recently renovated with a large investment.
Arısoy said, "The port of İskenderun, which is the closest port to Syria, is 143 km from Aleppo, 925 km from Erbil, 1250 km from Baghdad, 1200 km from Tabriz and 1820 km from Tehran. Instead of crossing the Suez Canal to the south of Iraq and traveling around the Arabian peninsula, Iskenderun port is an appropriate port, with an average of 15 percent lower agency local costs compared to Mersin, free time to shift, longer CFS (Transfer) costs and is advantageous to be 129 km closer to Khabur Border Gate. Our company opened customer representative offices snd there 35 people serve our customers 24 hours a day. In 2018, 930 thousand livestock transportations, including 520 thousand in the port and 410 thousand in 2019, have been carried out. I want to say this to our shippers: Try us, you will be satisfied.”
750 million dollars of investment for the port
Limakport İskenderun Port Deputy General Manager Mehmet Ünlü said that Mardin, which is an ancient city, has an important position on the transit route, especially due to its proximity to the Middle East countries and its location on the old Silk Road.
“The port closest to Khabur border gate, Iskenderun port, 8 years ago, was transferred from Limak Group of Companies without privatization and 750 million dollars of investment was made. We are here to inform the valuable business people of Mardin and Southeastern Anatolia region, which has a strong logistics field and Iraqi transit transportation center as it becomes advantageous Limakport İskenderun port, which is the closest and most convenient port to the Khabur border gate. We have been in various attempts in Iraq and Syria for 1 year for the port of İskenderun to be the entrance gate of the Middle East as it was 30-40 years ago. In this framework, we opened our port's office in Erbil 6 months ago. We gathered the businessmen in Erbil last November and introduced our port.”
Emphasizing that they received very positive responses, Ünlü ”We are launching our Baghdad office this month. With our Baghdad office, we aim to transfer the goods of European and American origin to Iraq via Limarkport İskenderun port instead of Agaba and Um Qasr port with you, our valuable business partners. As Limakport İskenderun port, we see that you, our esteemed business people, the transporters of transit logistics, industry representatives and customs consultants are not aware of the advantages of Limakport İskenderun port”.
It costs at least $ 150 less per container
“You will learn that you can get service from the port at least 150 dollars less per container than Mersin. It is our first priority to increase Iraqi transit in Limakport Iskenderun port. For this purpose, the entrance and exit gates of our port have been renewed and accelerated for you, our valuable logistics companies. CFS transfer services have been made fast and with high quality. Additional professional staff was established and the number of machine equipment was increased. A special team was established for customer satisfaction. After this team's request, we support all processes from laying down the container, transferring it undamaged and quickly, support customs processes and truck exit at the gate. In addition, customs business and operations, which are now public services in Iskenderun, have been carried out very quickly in the last year and customs laboratories have been put into operation. Iskenderun port, which the fourth biggest port and open to development with its strategic location, is a major Mediterranean port hub. We demand you to have İskenderun instead of Mersin.
It has become a modern port
Mardin Entrepreneur Businessmen Association Founding Member, Deputy Chairman and MUSİAD Logistics President Ercan Kasap said that the cooperation meeting regarding the services and financial advantages offered by Limakport port, where the valuable managers of Limak İskenderun Port, was held in Mardin, was fruitful for our business people.
Kasap added that “I believe that İskenderun Port should be used more actively and considering the modern port services provided by Limakport İskenderun port, which provides the export, import and transit transportation of all our industrialists and manufacturers. Our meeting with the port of Limakport was thanks to the interest of the port authorities in the region. By introducing us to the port, they explained their services and appropriate tariffs. We decided to try it. And by visiting the port of Iskenderun, we directed the entry and exit operations of our vehicles, ensuring their quality and speed. Indeed, by seeing us as business partners, we witnessed that they provided all services. And we strengthened our trust. They delivered our containers and shipping on the same day without any problems.”
After the other speakers, the question-answer part took place.
