Technoparks in Turkey

Efforts in establishment of technoparks in Turkey dates back to 1980s. As a result, in 1990s, within the collaboration framework of KOSGEB and the universities, TEKMERs (Technology Centers) were founded. The legal framework regarding the technoparks was done in 2001 with Law No. 4691.Law No. 4691 refers the concept of "Technology Development Zones" instead of technopark. As of end of February 2022, 92 technology development zones were declared with the Council of Ministers Decision. Of these 92 technoparks, 76 are active and 16 are under development. 

The number of companies doing R&D in the active technoparks has reached 7.580 and 45% of these companies are involved in software development and ICT and 7% in engineering sector.Besides, many companies involved in medical, energy, chemistry, food, defense, automotive and agriculture sectors are actively doing R&D in these technoparks. In these companies located within the Technology Development Zones, a total of 78.028 people, 64.463 of which are R&D personnel, are presently employed. As of February 2022, the total number of R&D projects (completed and ongoing) in technology development zones are 56.861. The export volume of technological products of these companies reached to 6.9 billion USD, and the major export markets are the most developed countries of the world such as Japan, Israel, UK, Germany and the US taking the lead. When considered in terms of foreign capital, the number of enterprises, foreign or with foreign shareholders, located in the technology development zones are 322. The number of patents received (national/international) by the companies located in the zones, is accounted as 1.464.