Posted by meb at March 28th, 2007

The 13th MARBLE-International Natural Stone and Technologies Fair will begin today and run through March 31 as part of the International İzmir Fair. İzmir Metropolitan Mayor Aziz Kocaoğlu said that they expected to have a $70 million contribution to the İzmir economy from the fair.

Talking in a press conference, Kocaoğlu, along with Izmir Fairs, Culture and Art Activities Inc. (İZFAŞ) General Manager Doğan İşleyen and Aegean Mining Exporters Association Chairman Arslan Erdinç stated that the improvements in the marble sector and the rise in export rates were parallel with the fair.

Underlining that marble has become a world brand, Kocaoğlu said that they were expecting 1,038 participants this year including 251 foreigners from 34 countries and 787 local participants in the fair organized in a 40,000 square meter area with a 25,000 square meter indoor capacity.

“The fair concerns 80 different work fields. Hotels in Çeşme, İzmir and Manisa are full because of the fair. Visitors will dine, travel and shop in the area for approximately 10 days. We are expecting an income of $70 million from Marble,” said Kocaoğlu. Indicating that 35 percent of the world’s marble reserve was in Turkey, Mayor Kocaoğlu stated that 13 years ago, when Marble was held for the first time, $50 million in exports went up to $1 billion. Kocaoğlu pointed out that every other year Marble was growing both physically and with the number of the foreign and local participants or the visitors.

Emphasizing that Marble was the biggest fair in Turkey and the second biggest fair in the world, Kocaoğlu said that Marble’s being held in Istanbul or Antalya was out of the question. Admitting that there were initiative acts in the last years for Marble to be held in İstanbul, Mayor Kocaoğlu said, “We overcame the problem as fairs are held by the municipality in İzmir. With the support of the sector, we took every possible measure to strengthen and improve Marble.

source: Turkish Daily News

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