Dear Friends, The world’s population which was 2,5 billion in 1950 has now reached and even exceeded 6,5 billion. The gradual increase in the rate of the people living in urban centres, increase in the consumption requirements and changes in the consumption range as well as such rapid population increase make it more important to be able to satisfy such basic requirements as nutrition, education and healthcare. The basic condition of being able to create and maintain a modern life standard and improve such standard over time is to ensure that any goods and services needed may be produced at a quantity, in a manner and at a quality in compliance with the contemporary requirements.

Another important point is to display any necessary care for the use of any and all resources and implement environmentally friendly production methods, trying to replace what we have taken from the nature without damaging the environment, or in general sense of the word, the ecologic stability during the performance of economic activities.

At this point, I find it useful to dwell upon some characteristics of the world where we are now living.

As known, as a consequence of the neo-liberal currents which entered our agenda as from the late 1980s and have increasingly become sovereign within any and all kinds of systems, our world has entered a new stage called “globalisation”. Developments are experienced at a dazzling rate in information and technology, the latter being the field where information is first reflected. Firms of global scale are spreading all over the world and becoming leading players in the field of production/service.

In such environment of rapid change and transformation, it is getting harder and harder for the firms of developing countries to compete alone against the firms of the developed countries that already have technological advantage and backed by open or secret governmental support. It is considered useful that the developing countries will protect their producers against disasters to be caused by globalisation. Practices in the USA and EU may be taken as examples in this matter, provided however double standards be avoided. It should be remembered that it is impossible to become a global power without placing the necessary importance of production.

Yet another important point is the requirement of using the local resources and facilities in the first place. This issue increasingly gains importance in terms of creating employment and protecting the ecological stability as well as protecting and maintaining the production power of the country. Although it is a necessity that countries buy any resources, technology and other necessary inputs which they do not possess from other countries, the fact that each country imports those agricultural and industrial products which they themselves may produce with their own facilities from overseas has started to be severely criticised by scientific circles as well as environmental organisations in terms of both negativity that they cause on employment and income distribution and the energy consumed by the air, sea and land means of transport used in the course of the transport of goods and the negative impacts that the bad gases which they release into the atmosphere and the seas cause on the ecological stability.

Our group maintains its activities in both the flexible packaging sector which is its main field of activity and its services in the healthcare sector as well as such social responsibility projects as the Aegean Forestry Foundation, Enver Bakioglu Mental Handicaps and Rehabilitation Centre, Cem Bakioglu Anadolu High School in an approach which consider these facts and makes its contributions to the society.

Bakioglu Holding Group has become a player who has established its corporate identity with its qualified work force of some 1000 employees, environmentally friendly production and service units, its multi-annual performance in exports all over the world and particularly to the Member States of the European Union, its investments in future, the importance it places on and actual contributions it makes to the social responsibility and environmental projects.
With the hope of a world that complies with the principle “Peace at Home Peace in the World” and is respectful towards men, nature and environment, leaving the complex, variable and uncertain world behind as soon as possible, I remain
Respectfully yours,

Cem BAKİOGLU
Bakioglu Holding A.S.
President of the Board of Directors