Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the R&D Reform Package which will enter into effect on March 1^st 2016 will bring various benefits to the economy. Pointing out that this is an important indicator of the government’s dedication to comprehensive economic reform, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “This determination is the most powerful force which enables the Turkish business community to focus on our work despite the increasing geopolitical risks of the region.”

Stating that the Turkish economy has undergone an important change in the last 10-15 years, the TOBB President said, “We were a 3,000 USD per capita income country, this increased to 10,000 USD. Our goal now is to reach 25,000. For that Turkey needs a technological leap. We must transition from talking about innovation to innovating. Science, Industry and Technology Minister Fikri Işık is following these issues closely. To this end, they’ve prepared a comprehensive package to suit our needs. We thank everyone who contributed to it all the way up to the President of the Republic. I am convinced that this reform package will be an important step in transitioning from talking about innovation to innovating.”

Hisarcıklıoğlu expressed happiness in the fact that design activity has been added to the list of R&D incentives; support for R&D centers have been facilitated and increased; mechanisms to enable SMEs to make use of R&D support; techno-enterprise capital support aimed at young entrepreneurs have been increased which were requested by the private sector for years.