Marktchancen aus erster Hand

 

Ufuk Ekici, Generalkonsul der Türkei in Frankfurt am Main, beanwortete uns Fragen zum türkischen Markt und dessen Investitionsfreundlichkeit.

GSC: Why is Turkey a good place to invest for foreign companies?

Ufuk Ekici:

» Booming economy; more than tripling its GDP, reaching USD 772 billion in 2011, up from USD 231 billion in 2002

» Stable economic growth with an average annual real GDP growth rate of 5.2 percent over the last 9 years

» Promising economy with a bright future as it is expected to become the fastest growing economy among the OECD members during 2011-2017 with an annual average real GDP growth rate of 6.7 percent (OECD Economic Outlook No. 86)

» 18th largest economy in the world and 7th largest economy compared with the EU in 2011 (GDP at current prices, IMF WEO)

» Institutionalized economy fueled by USD 110 billion of FDI in the last 9 years and ranked as the 13th most attractive FDI destination in 2012 (A.T. Kearney FDI Confidence Index)

» A dynamic and mature private sector with USD 135 billion worth of exports and an increase of 275 percent between 2002 and 2011 (TurkStat)

» Largest youth population compared with the EU (Eurostat)

» Half the population under the age 29.7 (TurkStat)

» Business-friendly environment with average of 6 days to set up a company, while the average in OECD members is more than 12 days

» Equal treatment for all investors

» Around 30,000 companies with international capital

» International arbitration

» Guarantee of transfers

» New and highly developed technological infrastructure in transportation, telecommunications and energy

» Well-developed and low-cost sea transport facilities

» Railway transport advantage to Central and Eastern Europe

» Well-established transportation routes and direct delivery mechanism to most of the EU countries

» Corporate Income Tax reduced from 33 percent to 20 percent

» Individual Income Tax varies from 15 percent to 35 percent

» Tax benefits and incentives in Technology Development Zones, Industrial Zones and Free Zones could include total or partial exemption from Corporate Income Tax, a grant on employer's social security share, as well as land allocation.

» R&D Innovationn Support Law

» Incentives for strategic investment to decrease imports, for large-scale investments, as well as for regional investments

» 50 million internet users in 2011, up from 4 million in 2002

» 65 million mobile phone subscribers in 2011, up from 23 million in 2002

» 1.5 million international tourist arrivals in 2011, up from 13 million in 2002

 

GSC: Which Industries are particularly attractive in Turkey from your point of view and for what  reasons?

Ufuk Ekici: During the last six years, the financial intermediation and manufacturing sectors have attracted the highest amount of FDI.
The new Investment Incentive system in Turkey attracts foreign and local firms, if we look at the sectoral distrubition of Incentive Certificates issued by Ministry of Economy in 2012;
The total number of the certificates is 4365. 236 each issued for Foreign Firms whereas 4129 each for Local Firms.The total investment value for Local firms is 50.977 billion TL whereas for the Foreign firms is 6.793 billion TL.
The total fixed investment value is 57.771 billion TL.Manufacturing with a value of 27.772 ranked as first, Services with a value of  15.224  ranked as second and Energy with a value of 12.564  ranked as third.

 

GSC: What are the Special Incentives To Attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI)

Ufuk Ekici: The new investment incentives scheme is specifically designed to encourage investments with the potential to reduce dependency on the importation of intermediate goods vital to the country's strategic sectors. Detailed information can be obtained Invest in Turkey or The Ministry of Economy  Intranet pages.  
Amongst the primary objectives of the new investment incentives scheme are to reduce the current account deficit, boost investment support to lesser developed regions, increase the level of support instruments, promote clustering activities, and to support investments that will create the transfer of technology.
In order to further accelerate investment decisions, the new investment incentives system grants more advantageous supports for investments to be initiated by the end of 2013. Spending at least 10 percent of the investment amount will suffice for the investment to be considered as started.
Effective as of January 1, 2012, the new investment incentives system is comprised of four different schemes. Local and foreign investors have equal access to:

1- General Investment Incentives Scheme

2- Regional Investment Incentives Scheme

3- Large-Scale Investment Incentives Scheme

4- Strategic Investment Incentives Scheme

 The support instruments to be provided within the framework of various investment incentives schemes are shown in the following table:

 

Support Instruments	General Investment Incentives Scheme	Regional Investment Incentives Scheme	Large-Scale Investment Incentives Scheme	Strategic Investment Incentives Scheme
VAT Exemption	+	+	+	+
Customs Duty Exemption	+	+	+	+
Tax Reduction		+	+	+
Social Security Premium Support (Employer's Share)		+	+	+
Income Tax Withholding Allowance *		+	+	+
Social Security Premium Support (Employee's Share) *		+	+	+
Interest Rate Support **		+	+	+
Land Allocation		+	+	+
VAT Refund***				+

 

GSC: Which regions are notably adequate for foreign companies?

Ufuk Ekici: Actually it depends on where the investor desires to  establish the production facility. There are six regions on which the investments incentives differ from one region to another.As a general saying most of the firms prefers to be located in  Organized Industrial Zones (OIZ)

 

More information about the different zones in Turkey: ISPAT