Bridgestone co-invests €222m in second Turkish plant

ERJ staff report (TP)

Istanbul, Turkey – Brisa, a Turkish-Japanese joint venture between conglomerate Sabanci Holding and Bridgestone plans to expand its operations by investing $300m (€221.6m) in the construction of its second plant in the Central Anatolian province of Aksaray, reported Zehra Aydogan for Hurriyet Daily News.

Brisa announced that it planned to have its second factory in operation by 2018, with tire production at the new facility projected to be 4.2m units annually. Brisa’s announcement came as it celebrated its 25th anniversary at a press conference yesterday (19 November). Their statement follows on from previous reports in September and October that a site was being acquired.

“Brisa was the biggest foreign investment in Turkey when it was launched in 1988. Bridgestone … is one of our strategic partners and, in this regard, we consider it to be of significant importance. The success we achieved by integrating the two different cultures over these last 25 years is the strongest evidence that the decision we made was the right one,” Sabanci Holding Chairwoman Güler Sabanci said.

Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Çaglayan said Brisa became the seventh largest producer in Europe’s tire manufacturing sector and number 34 in the world, noting that the new enterprise would create employment for 700 people.

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Full story from Hurriyet Daily News