Incentives for the manufacturing of intermediate goods have led to an increase in investment. Accordingly, 12 new organized industrial zones (OIZs) to be established in various cities such as İzmir and Malatya will be completed within a year.
The investors and businesspeople of Anatolia, dubbed the Anatolian tigers, have broken their long silence and accelerated their investments once again. In particular, 12 new OIZ projects have been initiated in response to incentives for intermediate goods production and the drive to decrease Turkey's imports. Moreover, efforts to establish specialized OIZs based on agriculture have gained traction. The Agriculture and Forestry Ministry, which has realized 17 OIZs to date, is establishing 12 new OIZs. Currently in the application stage, the OIZs are expected to be completed within a year. These OIZs will be built in Gümüşhane, Adana-Karataş, Çorum-Alaca, Kahramanmaraş-Elbistan, Balıkesir-Edremit, İzmir-Dikili, İzmir-Menderes, Aydın-Efeler, Van, Elazığ, Malatya-Yazıhan, and Niğde-Bor.
Meanwhile, the process has accelerated for the Yalova IMES OIZ, Karasu and Deliklikaya OIZ following the approval of permits. Preparations for the infrastructure work for IMES OIZ, where 5,000 square meters will host 300 industrial establishments and 15,000 people will be employed, have been completed. The Yalova IMES OIZ team has put the construction site into operation, and the construction machinery is being deployed after Qurban Bayram (Eid al-Adha).
The Hadımköy Deliklikaya Organized Industrial Zone is also attracting intense interest from companies. Designed to meet the industrial needs of Istanbul, the region is expected to create employment for 30,000 people and to produce an economy work $60 billion. Infrastructure works have been completed for the project, which aims to boost production in smart factories. Again, the Karasu OIZ has become one of the prominent areas with its recent transportation projects. Agricultural land in the region starts from TL 10 per square meter. While the Şile-Istanbul motorway will reduce the distance between Karasu and Istanbul to 110 km, the Karasu OIZ offers attractive opportunities for companies in the iron and steel industry.
Across the 81 provinces of Turkey, 331 OIZs currently operate, providing jobs for 1.9 million people. The goal is to reach 2.5 million in employment by 2023. Government incentives for OIZs include property tax exemption, stamp duty tax exemption and cutting the share in electricity bills in addition to general incentive packages provided in accordance with the regions of operation.
