Corporate

Esteemed Stakeholders,
 
With global production and service capabilities and an ecosystem of 80,000 people, including nearly 32,000 colleagues, suppliers, dealers and business partners, Zorlu Group is one of Türkiye’s leading companies. We create value through our Group companies by providing smart products, services and solutions for a smart and sustainable life. We export to over 160 countries worldwide and touch the lives of millions of people. However, with this tremendous success, comes great responsibility... I believe that gathering such a wide network of stakeholders around the same purpose is critical for the continuity of our companies and our corporate structure.
 
In line with the Smart Life 2030 strategy, which we have fully and unyieldingly embraced since 2018, we have adopted a “responsible investment holding” approach. With our leading practices, we are taking firm steps toward our environment, social and governance (ESG) goals. Having chaired the Sustainability Committee that pioneered the Smart Life 2030 strategy, I am closely following the opportunities and values ​​we create for our stakeholders, the business world, our society, our country and all of the countries we operate in. We will continue to prioritize inventiveness, innovation and entrepreneurship in order to carry our brand into the future even stronger and protect our planet. With a data-driven, simplistic and transparent approach, we will move forward and achieve even greater success, taking firm steps toward clearly-defined goals.
 
We shape the corporate structure of our group with a fair, responsible, transparent and accountable approach. We consider this approach to be critical in achieving our strategic goals and creating value for our company and stakeholders. We put tremendous value on developing proactive solutions with a collective assessment of financial and non-financial risks. To that end, our corporate governance approach prioritizes the management of non-financial assets, such as human, intellectual, social and natural capital. We strive to make this integrated perspective an integral part of our corporate culture.
 
We focus on areas that will create value for the future.
 
We aim to further strengthen the reputation of our Group, prioritize investments that will support our growth, and expand our sphere of influence every day with business and projects that create value through human-centric ecosystems.
 
Today, Zorlu Group's biggest strength is its human resources, followed by production and exports, while its key drivers are sustainable and regenerative business models. I am proud to note that all the products, services and smart solutions we offer to improve people's quality of life are based on our innovative and pioneering technologies.
 
We put emphasis on improving the synergy between our Group companies. Extending from textile, energy and white goods to consumer electronics, electromobility, mining and real estate, all our companies operate in synergy. Our clearly-defined growth plan aligns with our Smart Life 2030 sustainability strategy. We focus on areas with high potential for achieving rapid growth and creating sustainable value in the future. We continue to invest in innovative businesses by strengthening the focus areas across our industries.
 
With Vestel, which was ranked as “Türkiye's third most valuable brand” by Brand Finance, an international brand evaluation consultancy, we realize human-centric product transformations by integrating the power of technology across the entire value chain, and provide our customers with next-generation, state-of-the-art products for a sustainable future. We supply many electric vehicle manufacturers with chargers among other components. We contribute to the development of this infrastructure in Türkiye and the world with our AC and DC chargers for electric vehicles.
 
With Zorlu Enerji, which meets 20% of Türkiye's installed geothermal electricity generation capacity, we also contribute to a greener world with wind and hydroelectric power plants. At Zorlu Enerji, in addition to renewable energy generation, we are working on new projects. We make investments in energy storage and battery systems, while continuing our efforts to produce storage batteries for use in homes and commercial spaces. With the charging stations we have installed all over Türkiye with ZES, we maintain our leading position in the market. With electrip, we continue our investments to expand into the Southern and Eastern European markets.
 
We are one of Türkiye's leading groups in sustainable and smart textiles. With Zorluteks, Europe's leading manufacturer of home textiles, and Korteks, one of Europe's largest integrated polyester yarn manufacturers, we focus on efficiency with our technology investments, while also carrying out world-leading work in circular production. We combine years of knowledge and experience with flexible and agile production, and we strive to offer high added value to our customers with innovative and exemplary products as one of the world's leading innovative business partners.
 
With Meta Nikel, one of our Group companies, we produce the raw materials of the future with the discipline of sustainable mining, and a next-generation mining approach based on R&D, technology and innovation. We reinforce our role as a playmaker in electromobility by providing the Turkish economy with value-added forms of nickel and cobalt, which are also used in electric vehicle batteries.
 
Our priority in real estate is to create next-generation, smart and sustainable living spaces, as demonstrated by Zorlu Center, Türkiye's first 5-function “mixed-use” project. With Zorlu Center, a project that stands out with its focus on visitor experience, we shape the culture of innovation with technology, while offering innovative living spaces that make people's lives easier with smart projects and practices that improve sustainability. We influence Türkiye's cultural and artistic sphere with Zorlu Performing Arts Center, located in Zorlu Center as one of the largest and most well-equipped performing arts centers in Europe. We provide a free, creative, transforming and empowering stage for art enthusiasts through collaborations with distinguished organizations and artists on top of cultural partnerships on national and international levels, while continuing to play a guiding role in ensuring sustainability across the industry.
 
At Zorlu Group, we contribute to the transformation of the electric vehicle ecosystem in our country with Togg, Türkiye's smart car co-founded by Zorlu Holding.
 
We strive for an equal, inclusive, fair, and smart future.
 
At Zorlu Holding, we carry out our activities with the “responsible investment holding” approach we have adopted for an equal, inclusive, fair, and smart future in line with our Smart Life 2030 sustainability strategy, guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We invest in regenerative business models and human-centric ecosystems, while supporting radical collaborations and innovation. We progress toward the 2030 and 2050 targets we have determined in accordance with environmental, social and governance principles.
 
We strive to meet social needs by establishing sustainable systems in harmony with nature through regenerative business models and aim to transform the ecosystem while taking the climate crisis and circular economy into consideration. As a Holding that embraces the principles of responsible production and consumption, we set targets focused on “Net Zero Emissions” and “Circularity.” We aim to reach net zero emissions by 2030 and expand this target across our entire value chain by 2050. We aim to reduce our waste by 50% by 2030 and reach zero waste by 2050. We aim to recycle 50% of the water used by 2030, and 100% of the water used by 2050. In line with our net zero vision, we will continue to take major steps in 2024 in order to contribute to the green transformation. Our goal is to make an impact by achieving  a carbon-free society.
 
With an approach based on human-centric ecosystems, we strive to look out for stakeholder priorities and create shared value in employee happiness, the future of work, inclusive value chain, and social investments. We take firm steps toward our main goals, such as becoming a pioneer in these areas and being a top employer across all our industries. We put inclusion and diversity at the center of our business processes and social investments. We also aim to achieve a 100% sustainable supply chain by 2030. In line with our Group's mission of becoming a pioneer in social investments, we allocate 1% of our EBITDA every year to activities that contribute to the SDGs. To serve this end, we carry out efforts to further strengthen our social impact in focus areas such as quality education, gender equality, and social innovation.
 
Since 2015, we have been a signatory of the United Nations Women's Empowerment Principles (WEP's), which aim to empower women and increase their participation in the workforce across all levels and industries. We continue to develop our gender equality efforts in accordance with our An Equal Life approach. We are guided by the An Equal Life Manifesto, which we have issued to reinforce a corporate culture driven by inclusion and diversity and ensure equality throughout society, especially in the business world. We carry out practices that increase the knowledge and awareness on the matter for all our stakeholders, and especially our colleagues. We support the non-governmental organizations and initiatives working to ensure gender balance in our country.
 
In the field of quality education, we provide scholarships to young people, and take part in the programs and initiatives carried out to help them acquire modern-day competencies. We have been the primary stakeholder of the MZV-MEF YetGen 21st Century Competencies Training Program since 2015. We strive to add value to future generations, and the valued teachers who will play a key role in raising them. To serve this end, we support the Teacher Network run by the Education Reform Initiative, which we have collaborated with for 10 years, and the YetGen Teacher Training Program, which was designed to strengthen the competencies of teachers.
 
We are a founding partner of imece, a social innovation platform that aims to contribute to the development of social entrepreneurs, young pioneers of change and the impact ecosystem in order to produce sustainable and innovative solutions to social, environmental and cultural issues. We have been supporting impact-oriented entrepreneurship and youth programs run by imece since 2016.
 
Dear Stakeholders,
 
All of our Group companies focus on what's new and what's best to create value for our country and the companies we operate in. We aim to improve people’s quality of life and create new hopes for the future with our products, solutions and services.
 
We will continue to grow by creating sustainable value with our strong corporate structure, investment portfolio, export-oriented companies, production strength, superior technologies, and innovation culture.
 
We truly believe that we will lead our country to a brighter future. On behalf of Zorlu Group, I would like to thank all our stakeholders for trusting our sincere and target-oriented approach, and for joining us on our journey of growth.
 
Best regards,
 
Cem Köksal
CEO
Zorlu Holding