(ECO) AERONAUTICS MANUFACTURING MOVES TO TURKEY.

IZMIR, Jul 3, 2009 (TUR) -- Aeronautics companies are beginning to manufacture related goods in Turkey due to low costs at a time of global financial crisis.

The PFW Aerospace Corporation, located in western province of Izmir, has increased the number of orders it has received after global crisis occurred.

In an exclusive interview with AA, Director General of PFW Aerospace Corporation Juergen Viehrig said that their investment at the Aegean Free Zone continues to grow after 2003, the year when Airbus and Boeing made orders to PFW for the manufacture of certain aeronautics devices.

PFW's facilities in the Aegean region began operations with a staff of 20 people. In the early stages, the company manufactured additional fuel tank and pressurized walls for Airbus. PFW's factory in the Aegean surpassed the companies' factories in Germany, France, Britain and China based on the quality of manufacturing and well trained work force, Viehrig said.

Everything actually began with a draft plan. Following the manufacturing of fuel tanks and pressurized walls, we began manufacturing certain types of tubes for Airbus in 2003. During the process, we have signed an agreement with Boeing and began manufacturing pieces of tubes for them. Our products got complex as time passed by, Viehrig said.

We have most recently transferred the manufacturing of flaps for A 321 planes from Bremen to the Aegean region. We hired 18 more people for the manufacturing of the flaps. We are making preparations to assume new projects. For instance, we began working on tubes for A 350 planes. We intend to manufacture more complex products in Turkey in the upcoming years. We will erect facilities in the Aegean to make possible processes on aluminium parts, composites, surface protection, welding and x-rays, Viehrig said.

Our factory in Izmir currently employs 120 people. However, we intend to increase the number of our employees in Izmir to 500 in the next 4-5 years. The success of our Izmir plant is related to the performance of our employees, Viehrig said.

All personnel goes through a six-month training period prior to working on manufacturing. Motivating employees is crucial for the manufacturing process, Viehrig said.

Our company expects sales worth 10 million USD in 2009. Although the orders our company received shrank 5 percent due to global crisis, we are receiving new orders for our Izmir plant, Viehrig stressed.

Turkey's proximity to the European market, the presence of well trained work force, and the absence of problems in terms of quality will attract more manufacturing plants from overseas to Turkey. The global crisis may have brought Turkey an economic advantage. The PFW group will increase the amount of manufacturing in Turkey. Most recently, we transferred another product from our factory in Bremen and began manufacturing this item in Izmir. We expect to manufacture more goods in Turkey, Viehrig also said.

(THROUGH ASIA PULSE)