97 of Turkey's technology development zones are operating; R&D centers reach 1365

As of September, 97 of the 115 technology development zones declared in Turkey are operating. Infrastructure work continues in the remaining 18.

Distribution by province

Istanbul has the most zones with 19, followed by Ankara with 14, Kocaeli and Izmir with 5 each, and Antalya with 3. Konya, Gaziantep, Mersin, Hatay, Kayseri, Bursa, Eskişehir, Sakarya, Balıkesir, Denizli and Sivas have two each. Many other provinces, including Trabzon, Adana, Erzurum, Diyarbakır, Samsun, Van and Muğla, have one zone each.

Firms, personnel and projects

The number of firms in the zones rose to 13 thousand 673 and total personnel to 135 thousand 321. Of the firms, 595 are foreign or have foreign partners, 3 thousand 815 are incubator firms and 2 thousand 389 have academic partners. In the zones, 78 thousand 859 projects have been completed while work continues on 19 thousand 990.

Total sales of firms in the technoparks rose to 1,85 trillion lira and exports to 20,86 billion dollars. Firms registered 2 thousand 618 patents, and 6 thousand 241 patent applications are being processed. Also registered were 660 utility models and 565 industrial designs, while 437 utility model and 225 industrial design applications are in process.

R&D and design centers

The number of R&D centers reached 1365 as of September. These centers completed 80 thousand 442 projects, and 15 thousand 866 are ongoing. They registered 17 thousand 521 patents and filed 31 thousand 277 patent applications. There are 237 foreign or foreign-partnered R&D centers.

According to Ministry data, there are 349 operating design centers employing 8 thousand 464 personnel. Design centers completed 17 thousand 52 projects and are working on 2 thousand 284. They registered 399 patents and have 660 patent applications.