User:Seyhan668/Economy

Adana is one of the first industrialized cities, as well as one of the economically developed cities of Turkey. A mid-size trading city until mid 1800's, the city has seen attraction from European traders after the major cotton supplier, USA, turmoiled with Civil War. Çukurova farmers exported agricultural products for the first time and thus started building capital.By the turn of the century factories almost all processing cotton began to operate in the region. Factories were shut down and economy of the city had gone into a deep silence in 1915 after the deportation of Armenians who almost run all the businesses in the city. Foundation of the republic again accelerated the growth of industrialization by re-activation of closed plants and opening of state-owned new ones. With the construction of Seyhan Dam and improvements in agricultural techniques, there was an explosive growth in agricultural production during 1950s. Large-scale industries were built along D-400 state road and Karataş road. Service industry, especially banking, also developed during this period. Rapid growth of the economy continued until mid 1980's and was accompanied with the rise of capitalistic greed which attracted film producers to the region, filming income inequalities and the abuse of wealth.

Extensive neo-liberal policies by then Prime Minister Turgut Özal to centralize the country's economy, had forced almost all Adana-based companies to move their headquarters to Istanbul. The decline in cotton planting in the region, raised the raw material cost for the manufacturing, thus city has seen a wave of plant closures starting from mid 1990's. Identity crisis of the young professionals fleeing the city at the times of heightened illusions, further contributed to make Adana, the top city of Turkey in brain drain. Financial and human capital flight from Adana further increased since 2002 with the current national governing party, AKP, due to neo-liberal centralization policies similar to Özal's and in addition, AKP's hidden policy to not to invest major projects to a city that is not aligned with their version of conservativism. In 2010, unemployment in the city reached a record high of %19.1. After 20 years of stagnation, the economy of Adana is picking up recently with investments in the tourism and service industry, wholesale and retail sectors and the city is re-shaping as a regional center.

Adana was named among the 25 European Regions of the Future for 2006/2007 by Foreign Direct Investment magazine. Chosen alongside Kocaeli for Turkey, Adana scored the highest points for cost effectiveness against Kocaeli's points for infrastructure development, while Adana and Kocaeli tied on points for the categories of human resources and quality of life.

Hilton Hotel

• Commerce

A leading commercial center in southern Turkey, city hosts regional headquarters of many corporates and public institutions. TÜYAP Exhibition and Congress Center hosts fairs, business conferences and currently it is the main meeting point for businesses in Çukurova. Academic oriented 2000-seater Congress Center is expected to open in 2012 at Çukurova University campus.

Adana Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1894 to guide and regulate the cotton trade back then and it is one of the oldest of it's kind in Turkey. Today the Chamber has more than 25,000 member companies, furthers the interests of businesses and advocates on behalf of them. Adana Commodity Exchange, founded in 1913, functions mainly to organize the trade of agricultural produce and livestock in a secure and open manner. Exchange has currently 1350 members and it is located across the Metropolitan Theatre Hall.

Tourism industry is developing as many hotels are being built on the banks of Seyhan River and in the city center. Designation of coastal areas of Ceyhan and Yumurtalık districts as Energy-specific Industrial Areas has made Adana an attraction for hotel building. Current capacity of 29 hotels hosting 4200 guests will double in two years; total number of hotel beds rising to 8400. Current 5-star hotels of the city, Hilton, Seyhan and Sürmeli will be complemented by Sheraton and Türkmen hotels on the river bank, Ramada and Divan hotels in the city center, Anemon hotel at the west end which are all currently under construction.

Agriculture

Adana is the marketing and distribution center for Çukurova agricultural region, where cotton, wheat, corn, soy bean, barley, grapes and citrus fruits are produced in great quantities. Farmers of Adana produce half of the corn and soy bean in Turkey. 34% of Turkey's peanut and 29% of Turkey's orange is harvested in Adana. Most of the farming and agricultural-based companies of the region have their offices in Adana. Producer co-operatives played significant role in the economy of the city. Çukobirlik, Turkey's largest producer co-operative, has 36064 producer members in 10 provinces and services from planting to marketing of cotton, peanut, soybean, sunflower and canola.

Adana Agriculture Fair is the region's largest fair attracting more than 100 thousand visitors from 20 nations. The fair hosts agriculture, livestock, poultry and dairy businesses. Greenhouse and Gardening Fair also takes place at the same time in part of the Agriculture Fair. Fair is organized on a 3.5 hectare area at TÜYAP Exhibition Center every year in October.

Manufacturing

Adana is an industrialized city where large-scale industry is based mostly on agriculture. Textile and leather are the major industry constituting 29% of Adana's manufacturing, plant oil and processed food manufacturing plants are also numerous. As of 2008, Adana has 11 companies in Turkey's top 500 industrial firms. The largest company of Adana, Temsa Global, in automotive manufacturing, has more than 2,500 employees and manufactures 4,000 buses annually. Marsan-Adana is the largest margarine and plant oil factory in Turkey. Advansa Sasa is Europe's largest polyester manufacturer employing 2,650. Organized Industrial Region of Adana has an area of 1,225 hectar and hosts almost 300 plants, mostly medium-scale.