R&D spending hits 55 billion Turkish Liras: Minister

ANKARA

The volume of research and development (R&D) spending has reached 55 billion Turkish Liras ($2.96 billion) in Türkiye, Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank has said.

R&D spending has leaped 30 times since 2002, Varank noted, speaking at the inauguration of the Lova Innovation Center at the Ankara Chamber of Commerce’s technopark.

The share of R&D spending in the country’s GDP has increased to 1.09 percent, the minister said, adding that with government support the private sector boosted its share in R&D activities.

“The private sector accounted for only 30 percent of R&D spending in 2002, but this figure has risen to 65 percent today.”

He also recalled that 20 years ago there were two technoparks in Türkiye. “We presently have 81 active technoparks in 59 provinces, while another 13 are under construction. Those R&D centers employ 80,000 people and develop several projects.”

Data from the Industry and Technology Ministry show that there are more than 1,200 R&D centers in Türkiye. The number of completed and ongoing projects in those centers is over 66,000. There were 193 foreign or foreign-partnered companies with R&D centers.

Most of those R&D centers, around 174, operate in the machinery and equipment production sector, and the automotive supply industry ranked second at 129, followed by software at 109, and computer and communication technologies at 80.

Some 407 of the R&D centers are located in Istanbul, the country’s commercial and financial hub, while Ankara and the northwestern industrial province of Kocaeli have 132 and 129 centers, respectively.