Local software sector grows, eyes larger size

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

A scene in CEBIT technology fair is seen in this photo. The local software sector has grown 75 percent since 2007. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL

The local software sector has grown 75 percent in the last four years and reached 3.1 billion Turkish Liras in size. It is expected to reach 3.5 billion liras by the end of this year.

The informatics market in Turkey grows at an average of 14 percent every year, and today the sector has reached $34 billion. Among these, the sizes of the software and service sectors are predicted to reach approximately 3.56 billion liras at the end of this year.

According to data provided by the Industry Ministry, 1,060 software companies conduct business in Turkey’s 32 technological development regions, employing nearly 9,000 people. There are 2,316 companies in total that conduct business including the software companies outside the technoparks.

Some 46 percent of software companies in Turkey are located in Istanbul, while 20 percent are in Ankara. The majority of Ankara-based companies develop software for the security and defense sector. Meanwhile, system, mobile and application software-producing companies predominate in Istanbul. In İzmir, mostly application software is produced. These companies export software to 50 countries and 12 free trade zones. Software exports totaled $265 billion last year and are expected to reach $500 billion this year.

Almost all of these companies are independent local companies that developed in response to the demands of the domestic market. Therefore, domestic market demands shape the field of operations of these companies. Almost 50 percent of these companies serve in the manufacturing, automation and management sectors.

Turkey ranks second in Europe
Doğan Ufuk Güneş, chairman of the Software Industrialists Association (YASAD), said they, the local software sector, were very confident and said Turkey ranks second in Europe as an engineering power. Local software and applications should be incentivized as a priority, he said. “The state should apply affirmative action for the sake of local software if the alternatives are equivalent. In other words, the state should engage in positive discrimination,” Güneş told Anatolia news agency.