1. SUCCESSFUL ECONOMY
Booming economy; more than tripling its GDP, reaching USD 851 billion in 2017, up from USD 231 billion in 2002 (TurkStat)
Stable economic growth with an average annual real GDP growth rate of 5.8 percent between 2002 and 2017 (TurkStat)
Promising economy with a bright future as it is expected to become one of the fastest growing economies among the OECD members during 2018-2019 with an average annual real GDP growth rate of 5.0 percent (OECD)
13th largest economy in the world and 5th largest economy compared with the EU in 2017 (GDP at PPP, IMF WEO)
Institutionalized economy fueled by USD 193 billion of FDI in the last 15 years (CBRT)
A dynamic and mature private sector with USD 157 billion worth of exports and an increase of 335 percent between 2002 and 2017 (TurkStat)
2. POPULATION
A population of 81 million (2017, TurkStat)
Largest youth population compared with the EU (Eurostat)
Half the population under the age of 31.7 (2017, TurkStat)
Young, dynamic, well-educated and multi-cultural population
3. QUALIFIED AND COMPETITIVE LABOR FORCE
Over 30.5 million young, well-educated and motivated professionals (2016, TurkStat)
Increasing labor productivity
Approximately 800,000 students graduate annually from over 183 universities (2016, CoHE)
More than 950,000 high school graduates with around half from vocational and technical high schools (2016, Ministry of National Education)
4. LIBERAL AND REFORMIST INVESTMENT CLIMATE
The 2nd biggest reformer among OECD countries in terms of its restrictions on FDI since 1997 (OECD FDI Regulatory Restrictiveness Index 1997-2017)
Business-friendly environment with an average of 6.5 days to set up a company (World Bank Doing Business Report 2018)
Highly competitive investment conditions
Strong industrial and service culture
Equal treatment for all investors
Around 58,400 companies with international capital in 2017 (Ministry of Economy)
International arbitration
Guarantee of transfers
5. INFRASTRUCTURE
New and highly-developed technological infrastructure in transportation, telecommunications and energy
Well-developed and low-cost sea transport facilities
Railway transport advantage to Central and Eastern Europe
Well-established transportation routes and direct delivery mechanism to most of the EU countries
6. CENTRALLY LOCATED
A natural bridge between both East-West and North-South axes, thus creating an efficient and cost-effective outlet to major markets
Easy access to 1.7 billion customers in Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East and North Africa
Access to multiple markets worth USD 25 trillion of GDP
7. ENERGY CORRIDOR AND TERMINAL OF EUROPE
An important energy terminal and corridor in Europe connecting the East and the West
Located at a close proximity of more than 70 percent of the world’s proven primary energy reserves, while the largest energy consumer, which is Europe, is located right to the west of Turkey, thus making the country a linchpin in energy transit and an energy terminal in the region
8. LOW TAXES & INCENTIVES
Corporate Income Tax reduced from 33 percent to 20 percent (22 percent for 2018, 2019 and 2020)
Tax benefits and incentives in Technology Development Zones, Industrial Zones and Free Zones, including total or partial exemption from Corporate Income Tax, a grant on employer’s social security share, as well as land allocation
R&D and Innovation Support Law
Incentives for strategic investments, large-scale investments and regional investments
9. CUSTOMS UNION WITH THE EU SINCE 1996
Customs Union with the EU since 1996 and Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with 21 countries (Ministry of Trade)
More FTAs underway
Accession negotiations with the EU
10. LARGE DOMESTIC MARKET
69 million broadband internet subscribers in 2017, up from 0.1 million in 2002 (ICTA, TurkStat)
78 million mobile phone subscribers in 2017, up from 23 million in 2002 (TurkStat)
62.5 million credit card users in 2017, up from 16 million in 2002 (The Interbank Card Center of Turkey)
193 million airline passengers in 2017, up from 33 million in 2002 (TurkStat)
38 million international tourist arrivals in 2017, up from 13 million in 2002 (TurkStat)
Information has been taken from invest.gov.tr
