Minister of Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank stated that they want to make Turkey a strong global player in critical technologies and high value-added products and said, “The power of the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem directly affects the speed of development.” said.
According to the information compiled by the AA correspondent on the occasion of Entrepreneurship Week, the Ministry of Industry and Technology and its affiliated organizations encourage the actors in the ecosystem through various mechanisms regarding entrepreneurship, which is determined as one of the basic policy components in Turkey’s 2023 Industrial and Technology Strategy.
KOSGEB, which contributes up to 60 thousand liras as establishment and performance support with the “Traditional Entrepreneur Program”, also provides up to 370 thousand liras of financing for support and consultancy services according to technology levels with the “Advanced Entrepreneur Program”.
Within the scope of performance support, if the entrepreneurs are young, female, disabled, veteran or first degree relative of a martyr, 5 thousand lira is added to the determined amounts in each performance period.
Within the scope of the Traditional Entrepreneur Support Program, 28.9 million liras have been transferred to 4 thousand 735 enterprises, and within the scope of the Advanced Entrepreneur Support Program, 155.2 million liras have been transferred to 2 thousand 996 enterprises.
Support from TÜBİTAK from idea to market
With the “1512 Technopreneurship Capital Support Program (BİGG)”, TÜBİTAK supports the activities of entrepreneurs from the idea stage to the market so that they can transform their technology and innovation-oriented business ideas into enterprises with high potential for creating added value and qualified employment.
While training is provided to entrepreneurs within the scope of the program, support is also provided to entrepreneurs in technical, commercial and administrative matters with guides with industry experience. Startups that qualify to be supported in the program are given grants of up to 200 thousand liras for expenses such as personnel, equipment and service procurement.
Approximately 200 million liras of resources were transferred to 1229 projects of entrepreneurs who were eligible to be supported by BIGG, at 2019 prices.
On the other hand, companies with R&D and Design Center certificates benefit from various tax deductions and exemptions. In addition to tax advantages, companies located in technoparks benefit from government supports such as mentoring, business matching, commercialization and export supports.
The 5 venture capital funds to be established within the scope of the “Tech-InvesTR Venture Capital Support Program” implemented within TÜBİTAK TEYDEB in cooperation with the Ministry of Treasury and Finance will reach a total fund size of approximately 630 million liras at the first closing and 1.1 billion liras at the last closing, with the resources to be brought from investors. and is expected to invest in approximately 150 technology-based early-stage startups.
“Entrepreneurship and innovation directly affect the pace of development”
Minister of Industry and Technology Varank told the AA correspondent that they want to make Turkey a strong global player in critical technologies and high value-added products, and that the strength of the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem directly affects the speed of development.
Pointing out that Turkey has a great potential in technology-based entrepreneurship, Varank said, “The appetite for innovation in start-ups is quite high. We, as the ministry, make this appetite permanent with the support we offer. The successes of these companies and the innovative products they develop often attract the attention of the international press.” “We want all actors in the ecosystem to make the most of the incentives we offer.” he said.
“We will further strengthen the entrepreneurship ecosystem”
Stating that entrepreneurship in Turkey is almost entirely supported by the public in the current situation, Varank said, “However, this is not a sustainable and healthy structure. The private sector should also make the best use of the potential here and take risks. In this sense, the culture of doing business together should prevail in the private sector.” we want.” said.
Emphasizing that they will take concrete steps to give the entrepreneurship ecosystem a more effective structure in the coming period, Varank said:
“We will work on teaching the open innovation approach in schools, workplaces and technoparks. We want to develop practices such as a tax-free or easy tax period for early stage entrepreneurs. We will expand the use of crowdfunding by increasing the number and effectiveness of angel investors.”
