-
18 April 2025
Director of Climate Change Prof. Halil Hasar attended the Eastern Black Sea Project (DOKAP) Action Plan Information and Consultation Meeting. Hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Technology, the program held in Giresun and attended by Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz and ministers from the Economic Coordination Board announced the new DOKAP Action Plan to the public.
The planned measures are expected to deliver more balanced socioeconomic development by accelerating regional growth, strengthening industry, and rolling out model and innovative projects designed to increase value-added production and employment. Speaking at the launch of the DOKAP Action Plan, which targets development across a wide range of sectors, Vice President Yılmaz said the region makes a major contribution to the economy of Türkiye through strategic agricultural products such as hazelnuts, tea, kiwi, and honey, while also expanding its economic diversity through coastal trade and industrial investment.
Yılmaz noted that they are working resolutely to narrow interregional development gaps and to unlock regional potential to the fullest extent, adding that significant investments are being implemented across the DOKAP region in line with this approach.
Addressing losses caused by climate change and frost events, Yılmaz said efforts are under way to compensate, at certain rates, farmers registered in the Farmer Registration System for their losses, stressing that support measures will also encourage formal registration and insurance coverage.
“We aim to implement 158 projects and increase the region’s prosperity.”
Yılmaz added that alongside economic progress, the region has also seen significant advances in the social dimension of development, noting that while there were three public universities in the region in 2002, there are now one foundation university and 13 public universities, and that the number of hospitals has risen from 118 in 2002 to 148 today. Emphasizing the need to protect highland pastures collectively, Yılmaz said, “As someone who has witnessed these natural assets firsthand, I ask that we safeguard them. Let us support our politicians and administrators in protecting these assets and encourage them to do so. Let us, together, manage these values in a sustainable manner and leverage them in a high value-added way. By doing so, we will be taking the right course.”
Continuing his remarks, Yılmaz said, “We will complete infrastructure development projects to ensure the sustainable management of aquatic resources in the DOKAP region. We will also strengthen transport and logistics capacities across the region to give fresh momentum to the growth of trade and industry. Under our 2024–2028 DOKAP Action Plan, we aim to implement 158 projects and increase the region’s prosperity by allocating TRY 394 billion in resources. With the participation and contributions of all stakeholders—from public institutions and universities to civil society and the private sector—we will collectively elevate DOKAP to a far higher standard of economic structure and development. Through progress in tourism, agriculture, industry, and the social sphere, we will both enhance regional prosperity and enable the region to make a stronger contribution to the Türkiye Century and the country’s development goals.”
The consultation and briefing meeting was also attended by Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar, Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan, Minister of Trade Ömer Bolat, Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır, DOKAP Regional Development Administration President Hakan Gültekin, and the governors of the regional provinces.