Could you shortly brief us on Dörken's background, operations and organization?
Dörken is a holding company which was founded as a dye company in 1892 in the small town of Herdecke in Central Germany by the brothers Ewald and Cari Dörken and its shares are owned by family members, The Board consists of the two 4th generation cousins, Kari Dörken and Ute HerminghausBöcking. There are various companies and product programs incorporated underthe raof of the Ewald Dörken Holding, The most important products are construction materials being produced and marketed by Dörken GmbH&Co. KG. Our brand portfolio comprises products for protection & drainage systems, steam balancing roof coverage, scaffold covering and greenhouse nylon.

What is Dörken's position in the construction materials sector where ît is active?
Dörken is market leader in roof covering in Europe as well as in drainage sheets. Having launched the first roof covering to the marketin 1961, Dörken boks back on 40 years of experience, Dörken started production and marketing of drainage sheets in 1981 and owing to the quality of Dörken's products, the wide range of its product portfolio, sales organization and postsales service; the "Delta" brand of our company and products has become a brand.

Could you give us Information on Dörken's investment in Turkey? What is the reason for your preference to invest in Turkey?
The reason for our preference is that Turkey has a great potential. Based ontheresults of a market research thatwe started in Turkey 1.5 years ago, we saw that there was major and serious potential. What matters most is to convert the potential into an actual market.

Which are the factors that influenced your decision to enter into cooperation with Erdem Holding?
Erdem Holding is agroupthat is perfectly suited fromthe viewpoint offoreign investors that wish to make investments in Turkey. Being one of the largest corporations worldwide in its field of activity, Dörken's decision to choose Erdem Holding was influenced by Erdem Holding's achievement of high customer satisfaction and trustworthiness in all sectors in Turkey where it operated. Initially we were considering a marketing company. Our plans changed when the "system organization" under the roof of Erdem Holding started to manufacture one of the products that were included in our product portfolio and Mr. Nezih Erdem displayed openness toward a partnership. The warm approach of the two families to each other was one of the signıficant factors accelerating the partnership.

In which other countries does Dörken have an investment? What are its plans for the future in this context?
Dörken has an overseas investment (outside of headquarters) in investment, production and manketing in Canada only, We are currently producing drainage sheets in Canada. Dörken Sistem in Turkey is Dörken's 3 third manufacturing investment. Outside of our headquarters in Europe, our companies are active only in the marketing field. This comprises France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.

Our objectives are always future oriented, To realize our targets, Dörken's philosophy is not to do too many dıfferent things at the same time but rather to focus on the projects started in order to secure good results. Kight now the country we concentrate on is Turkey. it is difficult to say at this stage what may happen in the future. Of course there are other attractive countries and markets like Russia and the Chinese Republic. However, so far we have not concluded any p lan s.

What is the scope of the cooperation finalized last February wîth the System Organization affiliated to Erdem Holding? What kind of synergy is expected from this joint venture?
As Dörken Sistem, we are envisaging the marketing of ali products produced in Turkey and by Dörken GmbH&Co. KG in Central Asia and especially in the Turkic Republics with priortty to be given to Turkey. This year we will start production of Dörken 's Delta MS 500 product in İzmit, in the next years our objective is to assess the market and sales to add other products from the product portfolio to manufacturing.

Which products are included in Dörken's product range?
Construction materials, dye and antimicro corrosion systems.

Are you conducting marketing of your brands under a single name ör by using different brands?
We are marketing our products under the exclusive "Delta" brand. The name Delta preemptive on each product. To give an example; Delta is a better known name and brand in Germany’s construction sector than Dörken. Delta has become a brand on the strength of our products, Delta is associated with our products in by almost everybody Germany.

How was the year 2004 for you in retrospect? What are your expectations for the year 2005?
l can say that 2004 was a successful year for us. Despite a shrinking market in Germany. as Dörken we managed to further strengthen our position. At the same time we increased our exports, Currentiy our export rate is 37 percent in 2005, ourtarget in Germany is to protect our position and increase our export rate to above 40%.

Due to foundation formalities of Dörken Sistem, bureaucrattc reasons and delays in contract procedures, unfoıtunately we fell short of starting up operations in january as we had planned, We were able to start sales in April, l believe that we will reach our sales targets for the remainder of the year, Apart from that, we are seeking to organize our company's infrastructure in our first year (personnel, PC operation systems, ete.) Another objective is to start up our production as planned.

Who is Fikri Budak?