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Winners of the Crescent and Stars for Packaging Competition, organized for the 7th time this year by the Turkish Packaging Manufacturers Association (ASD), have been selected. 199 products were evaluated in 11 different categories, and 64 of them were awarded. This was the second time the competition accepted applications from abroad, and Netherlands won one of the awards. The awards will be presented at a ceremony to be held on 23 September in Istanbul. The finalists will be entitled to participate in both the WorldStar and AsiaStar packaging competitions.

The Crescent and Stars for Packaging Competition, organized for the 7th time by the Turkish Packaging Manufacturers Association (ASD) this year, have been concluded. The competition where packaging manufacturers, brand owners and designers participate with their packages in the market, attracted great interest. This was the second time the organization accepted applications from abroad. Since the competition was accredited by WPO-World Packaging Organization APF-Asian Packaging Federation, it is the only organization in our country which is authorized and recognized on the international platform.

This year the competition included the "luxury packaging” "packaging components” "packaging machinery, equipment and technology” categories for the first time. The greatest number of applications was made in the food, graphic design and beverage categories - about 50 percent of the entries were in these categories. Most applications were made in the food category with 56 products, which was followed by 29 graphic design and 22 beverage applications.

Members of the Selection Committee convened at the ASD headquarters on 23 and 24 June 2016, and after examining all packaging designs, they evaluated the entries based on 11 criteria, which included production quality, environmental sensitivity, design and originality. At the first stage, 64 designs received "Competency Awards”. The winners of "Gold” "Silver” and "Bronze” awards to be selected among those receiving the Competency Award will be announced at the ceremony to be held on 23 September. "Gold Packaging Awards” will be selected among the winners of the "Gold Award” in cooperation with Turkish Standards Institute (TSE). 

Foreign applications were also evaluated at the Crescent and Stars for Packaging Competition, which has become a brand on a national level. A packaging from Netherlands won an award.

‘‘Our main goal is to make Turkey a global attraction for packaging'

Mr. Sadettin Korkut, the President of ASD, said, "Helping our industry become more competitive in international markets is one of our main goals. This is our seventh competition in which packaging manufacturers and suppliers, brand owners and packaging designers participated with their vastly different and innovative products they introduced in the market. The Crescent and Stars for Packaging, which has become a national brand, accepted entries from abroad for the second time. With this competition, which has become an international one, our country is choosing the Crescent and Stars for the World. We aim to make Turkey not only a regional but a global center of attraction as the number of foreign participants will increase in the coming years.”

Mr. Korkut stated that the winners of the Competency Award at the Crescent and Stars for Packaging became entitled to participate in WorldStar, organized by World Packaging Organization (WPO), and in AsiaStar, organized by Asian Packaging Federation (APF). He added, "With international competitions which are supported by all countries who are members of these organizations, and in whose juries we cast votes as ASD, we will show the level the packaging industry achieved in Turkey to the world.”

Emphasizing that packaging is one of the rare sectors that does not suffer have any foreign trade deficit, Sadettin Korkut said that the size of the domestic market reached $20 billion. Korkut said, "Our sector enjoys a very high level of performance both in domestic market and in exports. Packaging has become one of the most important instruments in availing the products to consumers, and a very important element of doing business on a global scale. We can see the reflections of this situation in the development of the packaging industry in Turkey as well. Our sector exports to 180 countries around the World, and mainly to the EU.

The sector generated $942 million export revenue in the first quarter of 2016 and imported $804.6 million worth of products in the same period. Achieving a steady development by focusing on value-added production, Turkish Packaging Industry had a $137.5 million foreign trade surplus in the first quarter of 2016. When compared to the first quarter of 2015, this is a 29 percent increase in the packaging export. Thus, we continued our contribution to decreasing the foreign trade deficit of Turkey, a major economic problem of our country. As ASD, we are proud to reward the successful works of Turkish companies in the packaging sector, and to increase their recognizability in the global arena.”

The awards of the winners of the Crescent and Stars for Packaging 2016 will be presented at a ceremony to be held on 23 September. The winners who won Gold, Silver and Bronze awards will also be announced at the same ceremony.