Minister says number of technoparks in Turkey has reached 81 in 54 cities
Turkey is well aware it needs to make a move in technology to ensure a healthy and well balanced economy in the future and started taking necessary steps a while ago. Within this framework the administration has been focused on increasing number of technoparks in the country and reached a number 81 in 54 cities.
Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa VARANK who attended an opening ceremony of the technopark in Çanakkale yesterday made a speech and shared important information about concerned developments.
Mr. VARANK said, “The number of technoparks, which were only 2 in 2001 has reached 81 in 54 cities in our country, today. The way to increase competition power in a permanent manner is to develop technology and produce”.
The Minister also added that those countries who are only users of technology cannot go further than being a profitable market. Expressing that they would like to see rapid growth of innovative initiatives that take the combination of “ideas, R & D, products and trade” as a whole Mr. VARANK noted following;
“We want young people, entrepreneurs who are enthusiastic and excited to pursue their dreams for their country’s interests. We are creating ecosystems where they can work comfortably, build cooperation in different fields and enjoy it together.
What we call ‘innovation’ cannot be the work of just one person. We need a strong and well-functioning ecosystem. We, as the Ministry are moving towards this goal. We want to bring the universities, the real sector and the public together in the most efficient way possible, to mobilize the spirit of innovation.
We have built a strong technology development infrastructure with R & D and innovation reform packages, for 16 years. Today the number of our technoparks has reached 81 in 54 cities with 61 in operation already. 5,334 firms are operating with over 42 thousand R & D personnel and they have realized exports of US$ 3.8 billion until today.
The minister mentioned that the administration provided various incentives to promote concerned initiatives with practices such as tax and duty exemptions, cuts iin social security premiums etc.
Varank stated that entrepreneurs in technoparks have achieved significant success stories in many areas ranging from drone design to software, from digital games to biotechnology. He also added that Microsoft had purchased open source software company Citus Data with headquarters in Turkey. He said, “The interest of a global company in a company operating in a technopark in Turkey shows us that we have a serious leap potential in technology-based jobs, a window of opportunity that needs to be evaluated. We will work with all of our strengths in the new era and will follow the whole process from idea to commercialization from a single perspective, so we will encourage the rapid growth of competitive and value-added initiatives”.
