Gebze to be Turkey’s cyber hub

KOCAELİ

Gebze district neighboring Istanbul is mostly used as an industrial hub.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced from the United States’ California-based Silicon Valley that his government has plans to establish a similar “Informatics Valley” in the northwestern province of Kocaeli’s Gebze district.

A 5 million square meter area will be allocated to information technology firms that will be subject to special incentives. A speed train as well as an urban train line will provide access the region which, instead of having high-rises, will be constructed with a number of lower level buildings which will include areas designated for offices and research and development.

Turkey’s Science, Industry and Technology Ministry is currently working on a system to incentivize firms to invest here, according to daily HaberTürk.

The investor firms will be exempt from income and corporate taxes, the report said.

Turkish PM Erdoğan visited Silicon Valley on May 18 for a tour of the big technology companies ahead of a key tender for tablets in Turkey’s schools in the framework of the Fatih project.