A delegation led by the acting Lord Mayor of the City of Frankfurt, Dr Nargess Eskandari-Grünberg, is currently in the Turkish city of Izmir to expand the international relations of the City of Frankfurt and the Frankfurt RheinMain region. As part of this trip, FrankfurtRheinMain GmbH International Marketing of the Region (FRM GmbH) organised a networking event entitled "Frankfurt RheinMain meets Izmir". Eric Menges, President & CEO of FRM GmbH promoted Frankfurt RheinMain region as a business location to Turkish company representatives.
Nargess Eskandari-Grünberg: "In difficult times, exchange and cooperation are the path we should take together with Izmir. There have been stable and grown relations between our two cities for many years. Numerous commonalities connect us. We are both among the larger cities in our countries - Izmir is the third largest metropolis in Turkey and Frankfurt is the fifth largest city in Germany. Both Izmir and Frankfurt are the centre of a prosperous metropolitan region with renowned companies, an excellent research landscape with numerous universities, colleges and research institutes. Not to forget: Both cities have been characterised by internationality and trade with the whole world for centuries. Izmir - then Smyrna - has been one of the richest trading cities in the Aegean since ancient times, Frankfurt has been one of the most important trade fair centres in Europe since the Middle Ages."
FRM GmbH used the "Frankfurt RheinMain meets Izmir" event to personally talk to representatives of Turkish companies interested in expanding to promote setting up in Frankfurt RheinMain area. "Frankfurt RheinMain region is the perfect location for companies planning to do business in Europe due to its central location. In addition, we have a well-established, cosmopolitan Turkish community with numerous contact points. The mixture of strong industries that are closely networked with each other, as well as the internationality and quality of life, make our region so interesting for a wide variety of industries," says Eric Menges, President & CEO of FRM GmbH. "In recent years, we have received an increasing number of enquiries from Turkey about settling here, and numerous Turkish companies are interested in doing business in our region."
The representatives from the Frankfurt RheinMain area who had travelled to the event were able to welcome around 100 guests from business, politics and the city administration of Izmir. This proves the interest in a cooperation with and also a possible expansion to Frankfurt RheinMain region.
With a population of around 4.4 million, Izmir is Turkey's third largest city and the capital of the province of the same name. The greater Izmir area is the economic centre, more than 15 percent of the gross domestic product is generated in the Aegean region. There are numerous industrial enterprises throughout the province with 1.5 million employees.
Since 2003, 25 per cent of all Turkish direct investments have gone to Germany. The most important cities of origin of these investments are Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. There are already numerous companies from Izmir in Frankfurt RheinMain, including the logistics service provider KRAFT LOG GmbH based in Frankfurt, D-MAK GmbH in Hanau, Nucleoss GmbH in Heppenheim, NTS GmbH (New Technologies Solutions) in Mainz, PUDRA GmbH in Frankfurt and M-Tec Metalltechnik GmbH in Rödermark.
With this event, FRM GmbH took a first important step towards expanding and intensifying its cooperation.
