Incentives date may change

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Minister Ergün says the implementation date for a new incentive scheme may be brought forward by six months. AA photo

The introduction of the recently announced industrial incentive scheme may be brought forward by up to six months, Industry Minister Nihat Ergün said yesterday.

At the announcement of the scheme last week, the government said the sweeping scheme went into effect retrospectively, for all deals done after Jan. 1, 2012.

“The decree has not yet been released. That was only a presentation [of the incentive scheme]. It is possible to make revisions to the decree, if necessary,” Ergün said on the sidelines of a ceremony in Ankara.

“We announced that the incentive scheme would be revised and requested investors to not stop investments. The decree may go into effect to apply to all contracts awarded after June 15 or July 1 (2011). Then discussions regarding the date will come to an end. It is not a big issue,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ergün said the government would pay 60 percent of expenditures in cash for one or two years, to an automobile designer who works on the development of a domestic car.

“[The automotive sub-industry] benefits from the strategic incentives,” he said.