- Türkiye aims to exceed 12.5 billion dollars in free zone exports by 2025.
- Trade Minister Omer Bolat stated that free zones recorded a trade surplus of 4.1 billion dollars in 2024, with exports reaching 12 billion dollars.
- Free zones prioritize high-value production, employment, and exports.
- In 2023, medium
- and high-tech products accounted for 47.7% of exports from these zones, with high-tech products making up 8.3%.
- The Aegean Free Zone led in exports, followed by Mersin and Bursa Free Zones.
- Key industries operating in these areas include automotive, machinery, textiles and apparel, steel, chemicals, and yacht and shipbuilding.
- Free zones are increasingly focusing on renewable energy production.
- Izmir free zones produce wind turbine blades and towers, while Istanbul and surrounding zones focus on solar energy equipment.
- Antalya and Kocaeli Free Zones have become major hubs for luxury yacht and shipbuilding.
- Companies engaged in production activities are exempt from income and corporate taxes on exports.
- If 85% of the manufactured products are exported, employee wages are exempt from income tax withholding.
- No customs duties or value-added taxes are applied to goods imported into free zones.
- Approximately 25% of companies operating in free zones are foreign-invested.
- Türkiye is actively promoting its free zones to global investors through agreements with 17 countries.
Source: turkiyetoday.com
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
