A new incentive program announced in Ankara on Thursday by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is anticipated to help reduce Turkey’s current account deficit (CAD) with investments with high added value while minimizing differences in regional development. The new program -- following the previous one that was introduced in 2009 -- features incentives including social security employment premium subsidies for seven to 10 years, land allocation and tax exemptions for new investments from the beginning of this year through the end of 2013.
Southeastern Anatolia Businessmen’s Association (GÜNSİAD) Chairman Şahismail Bedirhanoğlu, speaking in Diyarbakır on Thursday, said entrepreneurs in the region have pinned their hopes on the new incentive program. “We are expecting this new package to help pick up the relatively impoverished regions.” According to Bedirhanoğlu, the new package compensates for some of the key issues ignored by previous incentives packages.
“One of the most important things is that the new package offers incentives for up to 12 years following the investment. … This period was five years in recent programs and failed to maintain a sustainable investment atmosphere,” he said. The new program enables an investor from İstanbul, for instance, to benefit from the same incentives for an investment in this city provided that he first makes a new investment in the east.
Diyarbakır Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DTSO) President Remzi Can said it was encouraging to see the government making positive discrimination involving new investments in the east. “I have faith the number of manufacturing facilities will increase in the region, creating extra jobs,” he said.
The government revised Turkey’s regional development map and divided the regions into six categories based on their current level of economic development and also the investment opportunities they offer. The first category, mainly western provinces, is the most developed, while the sixth category includes the least developed regions, particularly in the eastern and southeastern parts of the country. According to the new package, those who invest in relatively less developed regions will benefit from this tax opportunity for a long time. Complaining that incentives introduced in the previous years failed to attract investments to the region at a desired level, Diyarbakır Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (DİSİAD) President Raif Türk said they expected “sound steps” this time. Türk says, however, that the package leaves some prominent details out. “We would like to see the state also cover the social security premiums for higher rank status instead of minimizing it to minimum wage workers.”
According to Siirt Chamber of Trade and Industry (STSO) President Nedim Kuzu, the new incentives could help attract new firms to the city’s Organized Industrial Zones (OSBs), which lacked enough investments to grow thus far. “The only drawback in the package is that it does not cover investments that started before the beginning of this year,” he noted.
Diyarbakır Union of Artisans and Craftsmen’s Chambers (DESOB) President Alican Ebedinoğlu stressed that the new manufacturing investments should be supported by some critical infrastructure investments. “The government should not forget to subsidize small businesses in the region,” he noted.
Kahramanmaraş Chamber of Trade and Industry (KMTSO) Chairman Kemal Karaküçük joins comments that OSBs will be rejuvenated following the incentive package. “Investments made in OSBs will benefit from relatively better incentives. We are in the fifth zone and OSB investments will be deemed as they are made in the sixth zone, where incentive opportunities are the highest.”
Erzurum Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ETSO) President Lütfü Yücelik says he expects the new program to help increase the number of new medical investments in particular. “The program places heavy importance on such niche investment fields that require state of the art technology as medicine are on the government’s radar,” he explained. Yücelik added that such an approach supports Erzurum’s bid to become a medical care center in the region. Gaziantep Chamber of Industrialists (GSO) Chairman Adil Konukoğlu also said they will try their best to attract as much new investment as possible, especially for OSBs in the province. “I suggest that all local businesspeople invest in their own hometowns as this will minimize regional disparity in wealth,” he explained.
Şanlıurfa Trade and Commerce Union President Eyüp Sabri Ertekin said they were glad to see the city in the sixth zone, adding that social security premium and income tax subsidies were the most important incentives brought.
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Source : todayszaman.com
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