Speaking at the opening ceremony of Medeniyet Technopark Üsküdar Campus, Minister Kacır said that we are at a critical threshold where global balance has been restored with digital skills and technology is no longer just a choice but a matter of competitiveness, development capacity and strategic independence.
“Companies must invest more in technology to increase their competitiveness and ensure sustainable growth.” Kacır said: “Countries are expanding their technology production capacities to accelerate their development and strengthen their national sovereignty. Under the leadership of our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, over the past 23 years, we have built a strong R&D and innovation infrastructure in our country that develops, produces and presents high technology to global markets.” he said.
“We are the world leader in the production of unmanned aerial vehicles”
Stating that this strong infrastructure that they have implemented creates a strategic foundation that allows the objectives of the National Technology Move to be transformed into concrete projects, Kacır said: “Until 23 years ago, we were a country that received a significant part of our basic defense needs from abroad. There was a structure that was largely dependent on foreign sources for the delivery of our defense products. Today, we are a country that develops its own unmanned aerial vehicles, ammunition, aircraft, helicopters, satellites, radar and electronic warfare and produced.” We are a world leader in technology development and “we are determined to further realize our goal of a 'fully independent Turkey in technology' in the Turkish century by transferring this momentum we have achieved in production to various sectors.”
Stating that TOGG is not just an automobile project but a strategic move that represents Türkiye's aspiration to produce technology, Kacır explained that their goal today is to expand this aspiration to all critical areas from mobility to artificial intelligence, from space technologies to biotechnology, from energy technologies to digital transformation, and to further expand their high value-added production power in all sectors.
“We have enabled the implementation of more than 2,600 technology-oriented business ideas into ventures.”
Kacır explained that they see technology entrepreneurship as the driving force that will bring this vision to life, and in this direction, they are preparing the foundation with multidimensional measures that will enable the emergence and growth of technology startups in Turkey.
Recalling that they have channeled 5.8 billion lira of public funds directly to companies through the umbrella funds and co-financing mechanisms they have implemented, he said: “Through the multiplier effect of these supports we have provided, we have mobilized 130 billion lira of private sector investments. With our BiGG program, which provides financing for early-stage companies, we have enabled the transformation of more than 2,600 technology-oriented business ideas into companies.” he said.
Minister Kacır continued his speech as follows:
“Undoubtedly, our human resources are the most important element of our entrepreneurial ecosystem architecture. When we look at the stories of the world's leading technology companies, we see this fact clearly. Great transformations often start with the bold questions, innovative experiments and cross-border initiatives of young minds. As a country with an average age of 35 years, we have a human resource 10-15 years younger than many European countries, which are quick to adapt to technology, have a high learning capacity and have a high level of learning ability Strong entrepreneurial spirit. Almost a million people every year “Our young people graduate from our universities and join our talent pool.” We value our young people's involvement in technology not only as users, but also as individuals who design, develop and produce. With this understanding, we implement programs that spread the culture of science and technology from a young age and turn our young people's innovative ideas into concrete projects. Our young people are learning the skills of the future through practices such as Deneyap Technology Workshops, Sector on Campus and the National Technology Expertise Program.”
Stating that TEKNOFEST has strengthened millions of young people's interest in technology, enthusiasm for production and entrepreneurial courage, Kacır said that Türkiye stands out as the right address for technology startups in the processes of germination, growth and global scaling with its support structure that extends the technology development process to all layers of society and takes into account the needs of entrepreneurs at every stage.
“These successes actually herald much greater successes.”
Pointing out that today a wide range of initiatives ranging from games to e-commerce, from artificial intelligence to financial technologies have achieved success with their innovative products, strong teams and vision, Kacır said: “We have 8 unicorns or 8 turcorns as we call them, waving our flag on the global stage. If we take into account the enormous potential of our country and the endless energy of our young people, these achievements are actually harbingers of a much greater success. We expect 100.” Companies from Turkey by 2030.” “We aim to create a thousand technology startups and want our technology startups to exceed a valuation of $100 billion.” he said.
Kacır emphasized that they will make the entrepreneurship ecosystem one of the 10 most powerful ecosystems in the world and make Istanbul one of the 20 leading centers in the world for technology investments and innovative startups. To achieve these goals, they said they have recently taken important steps that will facilitate entrepreneurs' access to finance, accelerate their opening to global markets and make Türkiye a more attractive center for technology startups.
Recalling that they have implemented the “Turcorn 100 Program”, which responds to the needs of companies with high scalability, develops innovative technologies and claims to grow in international markets, Kacır explained that they launched the Turkey Tech Visa Program to make Türkiye a more attractive center at the global level for technology companies and qualified technology professionals.
Noting that with this program they have allowed more than 5,000 technology professionals to enter Türkiye so far, Kacır said: “With the Terminal Istanbul project, we are making Atatürk Airport's terminal buildings the largest technology and entrepreneurship center in the world. Last month, our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan shared with the public the new and historic steps we will take to make Türkiye the center for global investments and technology initiatives. In We implemented the digital company in this context.” “We’re going through this,” he said.
Minister of Industry and Technology Kacır said:
“By reducing the financial burden of our entrepreneurs in the incubation phase with the virtual office service, we enable the spread of the entrepreneurship ecosystem at the grassroots level. Undoubtedly, access to financial resources is essential for an idea to become a commercial success and a local initiative to become a global brand. In order to attract more Turcorn from Turkey and put our startups in a stronger position to compete globally, we have announced in recent weeks that we will activate a resource of 300 million dollars to strengthen those of us The resources provided will provide more than $750 million in liquidity to the venture capital ecosystem. “As a ministry, we will continue to pave the way for ideas and support the scaling and globalization processes of our entrepreneurs developing innovative technologies.” We will continue to expand our collaborations that will enable the knowledge produced in the academy to meet the needs of industry, the commercialization of research results and the transformation of the scientific capacity of our universities into high-value-added production.”
“Our 114 Technoparks are home to more than 13,000 companies”
Recalling that in 2002, the number of technoparks in Türkiye was only 2 and the number of companies operating in technoparks was 56, Kacır said: “Today, our 114 technoparks are home to more than 13,000 companies that develop high-value-added projects in a wide range of areas ranging from software to artificial intelligence, from defense technologies to biotechnology, from mobility to energy technologies. Today we are together at the Opening of Medeniyet Technopark's Üsküdar Campus, he said.
Stating that Istanbul Medeniyet University, with its young, dynamic and innovative structure, has become one of the shining stars of the scientific world in a short period of time, Kacır said, “Our prestigious institution, which successfully represents the vision of a new generation university that not only produces knowledge but also offers the knowledge it produces for the benefit of society and industry, takes our technology development aspiration one step further today.” he said.
Kacır concluded his speech as follows:
“The Tuzla Campus of Technopark, which began operations in 2020 and where more than 120 companies continue their work, quickly became a research and development and entrepreneurship center where exemplary projects of our National Technology Move were implemented. Today we are at the opening of the Üsküdar Campus of Technopark right next to our university. With the new building with a closed area of 11,000 400 square meters in our Technopark, we offer “We will provide our entrepreneurs with a modern working environment. Here, our young entrepreneurs, the GO Enterprise Office on campus, will provide greater support to startups in the incubation and pre-incubation phases, from mentoring to investor meetings, from acceleration programs to prototyping and testing opportunities. We will give new impetus to the Istanbul entrepreneurship ecosystem, strengthen university-industry collaboration, and contribute to our country's technology production capacity. We will highlight their competence and reveal their potential.”
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