Faruk Özlü, Minister of Science, Industry and Technology, addressed to the administrators of R&D centers and technology development zones: "Let us make Turkey an R&D paradise."
The administrators of R&D centers and technology development zones, and the representatives of the business world attended the 2nd Summit of Promoting Legislation Regarding R&D Activities organized by the Ministry. In his speech, Özlü stated that the R&D regulations had recently changed and that the codes of practice of the reform package would be discussed in the meeting.
Stating that they had taken important steps specially to strengthen R&D and innovation ecosystem, Özlü pointed out that R&D Reform Package involved extensive regulations in this respect. Özlü stated that a lot of innovations had been realized regarding R&D centers, design centers, technology development zones, R&D personnel, universities, academicians, and students.
Emphasizing that they would like to clarify all questions and hesitations regarding the implementation process, Özlü said: "We believe that you should immediately adjust yourselves to the new regulations. Because we think that you should benefit from the innovation brought by the reform package as soon as possible. The sooner and more you benefit from these innovations, the more our country will utilize it."
"The burden on our shoulders is heavier now."
Emphasizing that Turkey successfully parried the coup attempt, Özlü said: "We have witnessed altogether that Turkey came out of this process with more strength and achieved a better unity and solidarity. We went through such a hardship that the burden on all of our shoulders is a lot heavier now. To improve this country, each and every one of us needs to put more effort into this. The following process, of course, holds both difficulties and opportunities. We should make good use of those opportunities and overcome the difficulties together. Today, we are a country with much more power and self-esteem, and a stronger infrastructure compared to the past.
Now, we stand on a place where we need qualitative leaps, not quantitative ones. To achieve our goals for 2023 and beyond, we must decisively adopt a more innovative, and a higher added-value production structure with high technology. That is why we must improve and empower the ecosystem of science, innovation, and technology in every aspect."
"We have so much work to do"
Minister Özlü provided information regarding the R&D expenses and stated that while the ratio of R&D expenses to the internal revenue was about 0,5 percent, it exceeded the level of 1 percent in 2014 for the first time.
Emphasizing that this is a promising development but it should not be considered enough, Özlü explained as follows:
"I would like to remind you once again that we have so much work to do together. "We should increase the ratio of R&D expenses to the internal revenue to 3 percent. We should make Turkey a country that spends about 60 billion dollars on R&D activities. While increasing the R&D expenses, we should increase the share of private sector in these spendings to over 60 percent. We should increase the number of our researchers to 200.000-300.000, which was about 115.000 in 2014. We should increase the share of high technology products to 15 percent in exportation."
"The Council of Ministers cares about you, not the economy"
Reminding that the Council of Ministers is authorized to take the final decisions regarding some issues in the package, Özlü stated: "The Council of Ministers has always used its powers granted by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey for your interest and to the highest degree. For instance, the regulations regarding the design activities have been highly extended. The number of personnel necessary to establish an R&D center was to be reduced to 15 in some sectors. The Council of Ministers has been very generous in this subject too. So, the number has been reduced to 15 for all sectors except a few. We included all of the time that R&D personnel spend outside the R&D center or technology developments zones in the exemption scheme. In short, the Council of Ministers takes you into consideration, not the economy while making decisions."
Pointing out that the R&D Reform Package has been mostly shaped according to the demands of the field, Özlü stated that they would continue to strengthen the ecosystem of R&D and innovation in the same way. Minister Özlü addressed to the participants of the meeting: "Let us make Turkey an R&D paradise."
