Kemal Sahin, chairman of the board, laid the foundation of Sahinler Group when he established Santex Germany in 1982 in Aachen, Germany. After the foundation of Santex Germany, which is an established name in the fashion world, Sahinler Group began operating in Turkey in 1984 under the name of Konteks. Sahinler Group, with its wide range of apparel including sportswear, intimate apparel, women's, men's and children's wear, has become the largest fashion and integrated textile group in Turkey. The Group has subsidiaries in Turkey, Europe and the USA and manufactures over 50 million units of ready-to-wear garments. Sahinler Group was listed as the 18th "Biggest Textile Manufacturer" in the world and the 3th in Europe in the ready-to-wear sector, according to German Textile Wirtschaft Magazine. Sahinler Group is a fully integrated group of companies which operates actively in all phases of textile and apparel production including spinning, knitting, dying finishing, printing, embroidery, cut, make and trim. The Group reaches the customer through its wholesale and retailer operations. The Group's core business is in the field of textile and apparel manufacturing. Additionally, it enjoys a robust import and export business throughout Turkey, Jordan, Bulgaria, China, Egypt, India and Bangladesh as a result of the marketing efforts in Europe and the USA. Sahinler Group manages its facilities through 27 companies established in 15 different countries. The Group also owns 350 retail stores all around Europe employs 12,000 employees. Sahinler Group plans for consistent growth in the future and has already reached an annual volume of 1.4 billion dollars. Bilkont Foreign Trade and Textile Industry, Inc., which handles Sahinler Group's import/export operations, was ranked 37th in the list of "1000 Biggest Exporters of 2004"announced by Turkish Exporter's Council. It was also ranked 66th in the list of "500 Biggest Industrial Enterprises of 2004" announced by the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce ; also two of the Group's companies, Şahinler Mensucat Industry and Trade Inc. and Modavizyon Textile Industry and Textile Inc. are climbing up to higher ranks in the same list. Club Mega Saray, a world class 1,100 bed capacity holiday resort owned by Sahinler Group, was awarded with "The Golden Key" and "The Best Holiday Village in 1996" in the tourism field. Sahinler Group has achieved success in every field it participates in and has invested in the energy sector with Sahinler Energy, the construction sector with Sahinler Construction Industry and Trading, Inc. and the food and catering sector with Teyvas Catering Services Industry and Trading, Inc. Additionally, Sahinler Foundation believes in helping others as evidenced by the building of an elementary school and vocational high school in Konya and Corlu, meeting the needs of various educational institutions in Turkey and awarding scholarships to 500 students all around the country. Sahinler Group has founded the European Trade Zone (EFZ), which is one of the biggest private sector investments in Turkey. Its opening ceremony took place with the participation of the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in 2003. EFZ has already reached an annual volume of 1 billion dollars in a short period of time. The Zone houses the most famous brands of the world with 200 operating companies scattered in an area of 2 million square meters in Corlu and employs over 3,000 people.