Science, Industry and Technology Minister Fikri Işık announced Thursday that a Growth and Innovation Fund will be established with a budget of TL 200 million ($68.3 million) as part of the Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME) Development Support Program. Işık delivered a speech during the Entrepreneurship Awards Ceremony organized by the Small and Medium Industry Development Organization (KOSGEB) at the ATO Congressium in Ankara, which welcomed Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu as the guest of honor.

The 2016 Action Plan of the 64th government, which includes various promises for tradesmen, workers, farmers, students and women, and is to be implemented within the next three months, was announced by Davutoğlu two weeks ago. The plan promises various supports for students, graduates and youth including TL 50,000 in financial support plus up to TL 100,000 in interest-free loans for young entrepreneurs. The first step to realize this was taken yesterday at the ceremony. Stressing that technology-driven entrepreneurship enables companies to grow more rapidly and gives rise to the emergence of giant companies, Işık said the ministry provided 628 entrepreneurs with techno-enterprise capital support this year. The minister vowed to increase the upper limit of this incentive from TL 100,000 to TL 150,000. Furthermore, the government will cover the wages of new graduates being employed for the first time, and the related regulation will enter into force within the next three months.

According to the plan, value-added tax (VAT) will not be imposed on feed and fertilizers, and financial support of up to TL 30,000 will be granted to younger farmers for projects they submit. Programs to extend rural development incentives to 81 cities are also in progress. Referring to Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) data, Işık said the share of the largest 2,000 export companies in overall annual exports has decreased by around 1 percent on a regular basis in recent years, and the share of companies that rank after the top 1,000 exporters increases 1 percent on a regular basis every year.

Işık said the role of SMEs in the rise of exports and income is clearly seen in the ministry's Entrepreneur Information System data. Stressing that SMEs will be the greatest strength of Turkey while achieving its economic and social targets in the upcoming period, Işık said SMEs will push up Turkey's exports to $500 million and national income to $2 trillion.Işık said the ministry runs studies on SMEs and entrepreneurs in two main areas, adding that it wants to expand the pool of entrepreneurs in the country and enable the establishment of more enterprises. Also, we want to enhance quality while increasing quantity and boost the number of innovative and competitive SMEs. The Science, Industry and Technology Ministry will respond to the International Incubation Center and Accelerative Support Program's call next month, and both the ministry and the KOSGEB will focus on works in the fields of residual risk capital funds, incubators and accelerators, according to Işık.

Pointing to the fact that KOSGEB provided SMEs with TL 14.5 million in support in the first 12 years of its founding and this figure has soared to TL 3 billion since 2002, Davutoğlu said he was even happier that KOSGEB has substantially used the budget allocated for this support and us requesting a larger budget. "We are very happy with the emergence of an excited and motivated entrepreneur stratum," Davutoğlu said. Davutoğlu added that the most important yield of the environment of trust and stability is that the people of Turkey can now make medium- and long-term plans. "We have institutionalized both political and economic stability in Turkey, and our people can see their future now," he said.

Berkosan Insulation Inc. won the Successful SME Grand Award of the Year, while Makersan Machines Ltd. won the Innovative SME of the Year Award; Besa Bakery Products Ltd. won the Collaborative SME of the Year Award; Tamsan Fasteners Inc. won the Exporter SME of the Year Award; Lucas Electricity Inc. won the Environmentally Friendly SME of the Year Award; Mira Industrial Training Ltd. won the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award; Desa Food Products Inc. won the Female Entrepreneur of the Year Award; Arar Machines Inc. won the Global Entrepreneur of the Year Award; AKY Technology Ltd. won the Innovative Entrepreneur of the Year Award; and Mora Software Ltd. won the Jury's Special Award.