Infographic. Turkey’s Special Economic Zones and Technology Centers

1. Research and Development Centers -1239
2. Design Centers-371
3. Technology Development Zones (technoparks)- 85
4. Organized Industrial Zones-331
5. Free Zones-19

• After the adoption of the law on Research and Development Activity (2008), 1239 centers were established in Turkey, 187 of which are based on foreign or joint venture capital. The total number of employees is 60173. Based on the data of March 2020, Research and Development Centers implemented about 45,000 projects (some projects are in the process) related to IT, military industry, pharmaceuticals, electronics, machine building, transport, logistics and other fields.
   
• 371 Design Centers (29 with foreign capital) were established to support research and development works, where more than five thousand specialists with higher education work (totally 8 thous.). Such centers are located in the organized industrial zones and in the production enterprises representing different branches. Most of them operate in the field of textile, media, computer, defense industry, as well as in the development of innovative engineering solutions.
   
• Technology Development Zones (technoparks) are designed both to support research and development work in the field of high technology and to attract investments in this field.  Based on the data of April 2020, there are 85 technoparks in Turkey, 15 of which are still in the process of construction. Most of them are located in Istanbul (10), Ankara (10), Kocaeli (5), Izmir (4) and so on. 5749 enterprises operate in the Technology Development Zones, moreover, the number of enterprises established with foreign or joint capital exceeds 300. According to their fields of activity, most of the enterprises are related to IT, agriculture, machinery, pharmaceuticals, energy (including renewable) and other fields. The total number of staff is 58.980, the vast majority of which about 48.000 are involved in research and design work.
   
• Organized Industrial Zones (OIZ) are designed so that the companies can work in a favorable environment for investors with ready-made infrastructure and social facilities. Infrastructure in organized industrial zones include roads, water, natural gas, electricity, means of communication and other services.
  There are 331 OIZ, 234 of which are currently in operation and the other 97 are under construction. In OIZ  investors can take advantage of the following: cheaper electricity, water, natural gas and telecommunication service costs, property tax exemption for five years from the completion of the construction of the facility, VAT exemption in land purchases and so on.
   
• Free Zones are special investment places created only for the export of goods. There are 19 free zones in Turkey. They are mainly located in areas close to the EU and Middle East markets, which allow easy access to international trade routes through the Mediterranean, Aegean and Black Sea ports. The largest of them are the European, Istanbul and Aegean free zones. In addition, companies operating in areas of free zones are exempt from income tax, and VAT and customs duties are not paid for the goods entering here. There are other benefits as well.