"I strive to repay my debt of service to my country." 
                                                         Asım Kocabıyık, May 8, 2001

Asım Kocabıyık was born in 1924, in the Tazlar village of Afyon province. He received his B.S. from İstanbul University's Faculty of Economics in 1947.

As a 20 year old student, Asım Kocabıyık had his first taste of business in 1944 when he became a founding partner and member of board in İstikbal Ticaret, his father Ahmet Kocabıyık's steel and agricultural products foreign trade company that would one day grow into Borusan.

Asım Kocabıyık worked in the textile sector between 1946-1948, and maintained close contact with art circles. In 1948, his father's health concerns forced young Asım Kocabıyık to take on management responsibilities at İstikbal Ticaret. He spent part of 1951 in England for a language course. Ahmet Kocabıyık passed away in August 1952, leaving his business in Asım Kocabıyık's hands.

Married to Nurhan Kocabıyık in 1954, Asım Kocabıyık is the father of Ahmet, Zeynep and Nükhet. The year after his marriage, he took the first steps towards industrial production.

Borusan, Kocabıyık's lifework

Asım Kocabıyık devoted his entire adult life to building his father's legacy into today's Borusan - a global corporation. Some of the landmarks in Borusan Group's development are:

In 1958 Borusan Boru was established to produce steel pipes in its 4.000 sq.m. plant in Sefaköy.

In 1964 a second plant was set up in Pendik with a water pipe production capacity of 50 thousand tons/year. The plant moved to Gemlik in 1985.

In 1968 Borusan Boru moved over to its new facility in the same neighbourhood, and made its first foreign sales in 1969.

Earlier, in 1960 Kerim Çelik was founded to produce steel profiles for the white household goods, urban development, automotive parts and metal goods sectors. In 1974 Supsan began the production of valves and valve accessories as an U.S. Eaton S.r.L. licencee, introducing the group to the automotive industry. In 1972, Asım Kocabıyık gathered his various companies under Borusan Holding. Boru Nakliyat was established in 1973, and Borusan İhracat İthalat ve Dağıtım in 1975. The same year, Birlik Galvaniz joined the Borusan Group. Borusan Boru's Gemlik Plant, currently a global contender in its sector, went into operation in 1976.

Kocabıyık made a strategic decision in the early 1980's to reinforce the group's industrial strength with commercial interests.

Borusan Oto was founded in 1984 as BMW's Turkish distributor, later to broaden its scope to representing Rolls Royce since 1995 and Land Rover since 1998.

In 1994 Borusan Makina signed in as Caterpillar's Turkish representative. The same year marked the founding of Borçelik, Turkey's second largest producer of cold rolled flat steel as well as the only private enterprise in its sector.

In 2000 the group turned its attention to the integrated logistics field, and Boru Nakliyat, Bortrans and Borusan İhracat İthalat ve Dağıtım merged to form Borusan Lojistik.

Early in the same year Borusan Teknoloji was set up to invest in information technology and telecommunications. Not much later Time, Borusan Telekom and Pargem joined the group companies as subsidiaries.

In 2001, Borusan Elektronik's first investment otomax.com went into operation as Turkey's pioneering automobile reference site. In the same year, Borusan Boru acquired the Italian based Structo Vobarno plant.

In 2002, Borusan Holding purchased 35 % of Bamesa Aceros, Spanish Steel Service Center.

Bnet changed its name to Borusan Telekom in 2004 when it started to provide voice services as an alternative telecom operator. Pargem, the other technology company of the group, also became a Borusan Telekom affiliate.

In December 2004, Borusan Birleşik Boru Fabrikalari and Mannesmann Boru Endüstrisi merged to generate additional synergies. Total assets of Borusan Mannesmann Boru exceed US$ 285 million, and its capital reached US$ 177 million.

The Borusan Group that deals in steel, distributorship, logistics and technology increased its revenue 107% in 2004, reaching US$ 1.6 billion. Consolidated revenue target in 2005 is US$ 2 billion.

Asim Kocabiyik, the founder and president of the group, delegated his authority as Chairman of the Board of Directors to his son, Ahmet Kocabiyik in 2004, with a view to dedicating himself entirely to the charitable activities that he had initiated during his active business life.

Getting away from the high tempo of daily business life, Asim Kocabiyik found the time and opportunity to evaluate Borusan more objectively. He says:

"It makes me happy to watch the rapid growth and development at Borusan as it leaves behind its 'childhood' and becomes 'an adult.' I am proud to have established a group that has become a major power in Turkey's economy, contributing to the increasing welfare of our nation.

Our group is committed to achieving its objectives. Three crucial characteristics allow Borusan to be optimistic about the future:

The most important of these characteristics is that Borusan has always been honest and always kept the promises it made to its employers, customers and business partners. We know that the trust earned in exchange for honesty and reliability is a major asset of the company.

Another characteristic that brought us to where we stand today and will carry us into the future is our ability to plan every step we take and calculate their possible results. This has always given us a clear view of the future and allowed us to make the right decisions.

The third characteristic that makes us strong is the responsibility we feel towards this country and its people. We shall never forget that we owe our success to Turkey. Every step we took and every investment decision we made was shaped by our sense of duty towards this country. We always dedicated, without hesitation, a considerable part of our earnings to solving the issues that confronted this nation. This sense of responsibility will always remain with us."