Tech ecosystem sees rapid growth, says industry

ANTALYA

Türkiye’s innovation landscape has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past two decades, Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır has said.

Speaking at an event in Antalya, he noted that the number of technology parks has surged from just two to 114, while the number of innovation-driven enterprises operating within them has expanded from 56 to over 12,000.

Kacır emphasized the impact of regulatory measures requiring R&D and design centers, along with technopark firms, to channel part of their incentives toward startups.

This framework, he said, has directed over 18.5 billion Turkish Liras into the entrepreneurial ecosystem. He highlighted TÜBİTAK’s BiGG program, which focuses on seed and pre-seed stage ventures, enabling more than 2,600 technology-oriented business ideas to evolve into startups.

Reflecting on Türkiye’s progress in the global arena, Kacır pointed out that while in 2019 the country had no technology company valued at over $1 billion, today it boasts seven “Turcorns” — Turkish unicorns making their mark internationally.

He also drew attention to the sharp rise in medium- and high-tech exports, which climbed from $10 billion in 2002 to $112 billion last year. Patent activity has similarly accelerated, with annual domestic applications increasing from 414 to 11,394 in the same period.

Kacır stressed that Türkiye’s R&D expenditure as a share of GDP has now reached levels comparable to industrialized European nations, such as Italy and Spain.

He concluded by celebrating the breadth of innovation emerging from Turkish startups, spanning artificial intelligence, aerospace, biotechnology and financial technologies, and described them as “countless success stories shaping the future.”