The Transformation of Our Industry…
As the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ICI), we have been recently taking significant steps to rapidly implement the digital and technological transformation of our manufacturing industry, thereby strengthening and innovating it. Because for us, “Transformation in Our Industry” is no longer just a necessity, but it has become an urgent imperative.
To date, with the support of the Istanbul Development Agency (ISTKA), we have achieved significant gains for our innovative entrepreneurs and our industry through our entrepreneurship support programs, mentoring, and ICI KOZA projects. Likewise, we have supported young entrepreneurs focused on industry by participating as a long-term partner in the Istanbul Technical University Çekirdek project. We are also supporting startups developing solutions in the field of digitalization within the scope of the Horizon Europe 2020 project “MIND4MACHINES,” coordinated by our Chamber.
And in recent years, we have started to carry out these efforts under a more institutional umbrella. To this end, we have taken two important steps. First is the ICI Strategic Transformation Center, which we announced to the public last year and began its work. Immediately afterwards, we took the second step by establishing the ICI Venture Capital Investment Fund (ISO GSYF), aiming to play a leading role in our country's industrial transformation and contribute to global success stories by building a strong financial bridge between industry and entrepreneurship.
For our industry's urgent transformation, we consider the Medium-Term Program (MTP) for the 2026-2028 period, announced last month by Mr. Cevdet Yılmaz, Vice President of Türkiye, as one of the important policy documents that will shape the production power of the Turkish economy.
In this sense, the new MTP is not only a document prepared for macroeconomic balances, but also a roadmap that will determine the direction of our industry in the near future, with its critical objectives such as technological and digital transformation in industry, access to finance, value-added and export-oriented production, and support for SMEs, as I have emphasized above.
I was unable to attend the September meeting of the Istanbul Chamber of Industry because I accompanied President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and our ministers on their visit to the United States last month as part of their work program. The meeting was held with the main agenda of “Discussing Transformation in Our Industry: The Importance of the New Medium-Term Program (MTP) (2026-2028) Targets for Our Production Life.” I believe the meeting, which featured a panel of distinguished economists and the participation of our Assembly Members, was very productive. You can read the details in the following pages. You can also find the details of the new MTP in a separate file in the following pages.
In this issue, we also have a separate article discussing the importance of R&D for technological transformation, competitiveness, and innovation. Its importance is now beginning to be understood in our country, albeit in small steps. We see the upward trend in R&D spending, which is also reflected in the ISO 500 data we publish every year, in the incentives provided for R&D activities.
According to Turkish Statistical Institute data, the total tax incentive for R&D activities increased by 78.6% in 2024, reaching 105 billion TL. Believing that these developments will significantly contribute to the transformation we aim for in our industry in the near future, I wish you all a healthy and peaceful month.
Erdal Bahçıvan
Istanbul Chamber of Industry
Chairman of the Board of Directors