Adana - Economy

Economy

Adana is one of the first industrialized cities, as well as one of the economically developed cities of Turkey. A mid-size trading city until mid 1800s, the city has seen attraction from European traders after the major cotton supplier, USA, turmoiled with Civil War. Çukurova farmers exported agricultural products for the first time and thus started building capital. By the start of the 20th century, factories almost all processing cotton, began to operate in the region. Factories were shut down and economy of the city had gone into deep silence in 1915, after the deportation of Armenians who ran most of the businesses in the city. Foundation of the republic, again accelerated the growth of industrialization by re-activation of closed plants and opening of state-owned new ones. With the construction of Seyhan Dam and improvements in agricultural techniques, there was an explosive growth in agricultural production during 1950s. Large-scale industries were built along D-400 state road and Karataş road. Service industry, especially banking, also developed during this period. Rapid growth of the economy continued until mid 1980s and was accompanied with the rise of capitalistic greed which attracted movie makers to the region, filming income inequalities and the abuse of wealth.

Extensive neo-liberal policies by then Prime Minister Turgut Özal to centralize the country's economy, caused almost all Adana-based companies to move their headquarters to Istanbul. The decline in cotton planting in the region, raised the raw material cost for the manufacturing, thus city has seen a wave of plant closures starting from mid 1990s. Identity crisis of the young professionals fleeing the city at the times of heightened illusions, further contributed to make Adana the top city of Turkey in brain drain. Financial and human capital flight from Adana further increased since 2002 with the current national governing party, AKP, due to neo-liberal centralization policies similar to Özal's and in addition, hidden policy to not to invest major projects to a city that is not aligned with AKP version of conservatism. In 2010, unemployment in the city reached a record high of %19.1. After 20 years of stagnation, the economy of Adana is picking up recently with investments in the tourism and service industry, wholesale and retail sectors and the city is re-shaping as a regional center.

Adana was named among the 25 European Regions of the Future for 2006/2007 by Foreign Direct Investment magazine. Chosen alongside Kocaeli for Turkey, Adana scored the highest points for cost effectiveness against Kocaeli's points for infrastructure development, while Adana and Kocaeli tied on points for the categories of human resources and quality of life.