ISTANBUL - Eczacýbasý Holding celebrates its 60th foundation anniversary.
Eczacýbasý Holding's Executive Board President Bulent Eczacýbasý told A.A correspondent on Tuesday that the foundation of the holding was laid by the medicine production efforts which Dr. Nejat Eczacýbasý started in 1942 in a small laboratory.
Today the holding is specialized in pharmacy, construction materials, consumption products, finance, and information technologies, and it works both in national and international markets.
The holding has more than 7,000 employees and it has 37 institutions whose nine of them have foreign partners.
Eczacýbasý Holding Executive Board President Bulent Eczacýbasý told A.A that the exports of the holding which was 10 million dollars in 1980 reached 200 million dollars in 2001 and the annual sales of the holding reached 1.2 billion dollars.
''Eczacýbasý Holding launches efforts to bring more added value, employment and foreign exchange to country's economy,'' Eczacýbasý said.
Noting that the economy of the country is overcoming the latest crisis, Eczacýbasý said that the shrinkage in the economy stopped and the inflation started to reduce.
He said that certain negative effects in the economy continue due to the recent political indefiniteness in the country, adding that the economy still goes on a sensitive balance. ''Whatever government comes to power after the elections, it has to keep implementing the existing economic programme, undertake new reforms and ensure the confidence in the country,'' he said.
Referring to the EU issue, Eczacýbasý said that Turkey took important steps on the way to EU, adding that ''all of us wait for the result of Copenhagen summit. Being a member of EU is a right of Turkey. We must definitely get this right.''