Ankara prepares to overhaul its research and development (R&D) incentives to foster the development of critical technologies, especially targeting space and quantum areas, to reduce the country’s foreign reliance, according to its three-year economic roadmap.
The Medium-Term Programme (MTP) covering 2027-2029 aims to strengthen the Turkish technology ecosystem through targeted investments and entrepreneurship to meet the sector’s rapidly evolving requirements through state funding for existing R&D centres, tech development zones and business incubators.
The roadmap outlines the need to fund early-stage tech startups with massive potential to become unicorns, or companies with a valuation of $1 billion.
Plans are under way to maintain a specialisation model to help large-scale private R&D centres and technoparks focus on developing innovative solutions in emerging fields, with state research funding directed towards deep technologies including cybersecurity, autonomous systems, quantum computing, hypersonic systems and next-generation materials.
Ankara will also support the fields of nanotechnology, biotechnology, sensors, chips, batteries, nuclear and renewable energy technologies, as well as blockchain and robotics.
The MTP plans to establish strategic collaborations among research institutions, universities and private-sector companies working in these fields.
Türkiye’s National Space Programme will involve research initiatives on developing and commercialising high-value satellite and space technology to expand domestic production capacity in this area.
Ankara also plans to establish the research infrastructure necessary to build next-generation railway technologies and eco-friendly propulsion systems to contribute to meeting net-zero emissions targets in transportation.
The MTP outlines new financial mechanisms to be introduced to evaluate, fund and commercialise local patents, trademarks and industrial designs.
The Turkish government will use a university-industry collaboration model to fund specialised research facilities, product-focused platforms and state-of-the-art testing labs.
Türkiye aims to seek global research collaborations in strategic technologies to cement the global footprint of its domestic ecosystem and expand its overall development capacity.
