Speaking to reporters on his return from the UK, Çağlayan stated that a new regional incentive and development system would be put into place starting in 2011. He added that the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) was working to draw up development indices for various regions in Turkey for the scheme.
Indicating that the government has selected 12 projects for the system, Çağlayan noted that they were carrying out competitive analyses to determine in which sectors Turkey can be competitive vis-à-vis its various regions. “It is not clear how many zones we will create under the new incentive system, but we will launch a system that addresses failures in the current one,” Çağlayan said. Turkey’s general investment incentive system provides tax benefits, loan possibilities, the allocation of free land and social security premium support for employers. It is applied in different ways according to the location, scale and subject of the investment.
Regarding his commercial mission to the UK, he stated that British businessmen were well aware of Turkey’s strategic connections and locale and wanted to take advantage of Turkey as a hub to the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.
