MERSIN REGION

The city of Mersin, one of major port cities of Turkey at the Mediterranean Sea, and the surrounding region, situated in the south of Turkey in South-Anatolia, is home to around 1.6 million inhabitants and covers 15,853 sq km. The Mersin port has more than 100 sea-line connections to international ports and is, together with the neighbouring free economic zone and the related industrial activities, extremely important for the region in terms of employment, value-added and economic growth.

The agricultural sector plays a major role in the regional economy employing more than half of the working population. The most important products are citrus fruits, cereals, and grains. The main industrial branches are agro-food, machinery, metallurgy, textiles, glass, and minerals processing. In addition, trade and tourism are very relevant economic activities in Mersin. The trade activities strongly benefit from the international port and the Mersin’s Free Zone, which support agricultural and industrial exports. In 2004, about 8% of the regional workforce was employed in industry and 28% in the services sector. The unemployment rate was 10.2% in 2003.