Özdemir Ataseven, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of ÖZATA Shipyard, provided an assessment of the SMM Hamburg Fair to Vira Maritime.

Özdemir Ataseven, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ÖZATA Shipyard, shared comments with Vira Maritime regarding the SMM Hamburg Fair.

Stating that they have been actively engaging in discussions for three days at their stand within the National Pavilion organized by the Ship and Yacht Exporters Association, Özdemir Ataseven mentioned that they are not selling goods like a supplier at the fair. He said, “For the past three days, we have been actively holding discussions with companies from Denmark, Germany, Norway, and Canada. Our focus is primarily on our environmentally friendly and durable carbon products. Our passenger ferry projects are attracting significant attention. Despite explaining as much as we can here, people want to visit our facilities. After the holiday, we will host these companies we have met here at our shipyard to further develop our relationships. In fact, there is a slight activation in the market, albeit small.”

Ataseven mentioned that after the coup attempt on July 15, which was a dark period for Turkey, citizens of some countries hesitated to come and continued:

“For those who hesitated to come after July 15, we explain that the situation is not as bad as portrayed by the European press and that everything continues as usual. Not only that, but I believe that conferences involving chambers and bureaucrats should be held at all fairs. For example, this is one of the world’s largest fairs, and such conferences should definitely have been held here. We have seen the lack of this here. In future fairs, there should be a large-scale organization involving the government and chambers to explain that Turkey is not as portrayed in the European press. My customers constantly ask me what happened, and I tell them the truth, then they say that it is not as exaggerated as it is portrayed. But I cannot explain this to everyone individually. I do my best to explain, but with the collaboration of the government, NGOs, and chambers, this should be communicated in a more organized and planned manner.”