Specialized Free Zones await entrepreneurs and investors

Minister of Trade Ruhsar Pekcan invited export-oriented technology companies to become investors in Specialized Free Zones equipped with government support. Minister Pekcan stated that the preparation of the legal infrastructure of Specialized Free Zones has been completed and that the evaluation of new investment projects and the acceptance of companies that want to operate in the Istanbul Free Zone have started.

Pekcan emphasized that the Specialized Free Zones Project, initiated by the Ministry of Commerce within the scope of the Presidential Execution Program, aims to accelerate the production of medium-high and high technology goods and services in the export target with state support, and in this context, the manufacturing, software and informatics sectors come together with cluster logic. Pekcan stated that it is aimed to increase the opportunities of cooperation and to enable companies to get more shares from global trade. Minister Pekcan continued as:

In order to implement the “Specialized Free Zones Project”, the Decision on Supports to be Provided in Specialized Free Zones numbered 2635 was published on June 9, 2020. With this Presidential decree, it was given the opportunity to provide employment and rental support to companies that will operate in R&D intensive, high technology or high value-added sectors with the goal of export. It was decided to provide interest or dividend support to the main investors, founding and operating companies, who will establish these regions, for the fixed investment amount they committed at the investment phase. In the implementation of the Specialized Free Zones Project, the President’s Decree No. 2846 amending the Decision on State Aids in Investments was published on August 21, 2020. With this decision, the investments to be made in the software and informatics sectors in the Specialized Free Zones were included among the priority investment subjects, and interest support and insurance premium employer’s share support were provided for the investments. Finally, the circular regarding the implementation procedures and principles of the Decision on Support to be Provided in Specialized Free Zones entered into force on September 9. With the circular, the activities that can be carried out in the Specialized Free Zones, the conditions for applying for an operating license, the conditions for benefiting from the supports within the scope of the Decree were arranged. Along with additional incentives such as rent, qualified employment and additional incentives such as tax exemptions, the preparation of the legal infrastructure of the specialized free zones, which will be equipped with one-stop service provision facilities, where bureaucracy is reduced, has been completed. Companies wishing to operate in the Istanbul Specialized Free Zone started to be accepted into the zone. We invite local and foreign companies that want to operate in the fields of medium-high and high-tech manufacturing, software and IT product manufacturing in an export-oriented manner to invest in the Specialized Free Zone. We invite local and foreign companies that will invest in our Specialized Free Zones or want to establish or operate a new Specialized Free Zone to our Ministry with their projects.”