Yılmaz spoke at the DESU Medical Production Facility Opening Ceremony held in Gölbaşı.
Stating that the quality of service has been increased and access to health services has been facilitated with the reforms carried out in the field of health in the last 24 years under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Yılmaz said that they have made very significant investments in the country's health infrastructure.
Stating that in the past, citizens sought healing abroad, but now millions of people from around the world come and try to find healing in Türkiye, Yılmaz said, "We call it health tourism. We have now created a strong health system that serves millions of people around the world as well as serving our own people. From here, we bring billions of dollars of foreign currency to our country every year and export services." he said.
Yılmaz underlined that at this point today, Türkiye has a significant accumulation of knowledge that can support the strong infrastructure it has created in healthcare services with scientific research, innovative technologies and domestic production, and pointed out that healthcare services in the world are going through a radical change with the developments in biotechnology, artificial intelligence, digitalization and advanced material technologies.
"Locality rate is over 80 percent"
"As Turkey, we plan to complete the progress we have made in health services with a strong production and export capacity in health technologies," said Yılmaz, adding that in this regard, increasing domestic production, especially in pharmaceuticals and medical devices that require high technology, ensuring supply security in critical products and reducing foreign dependency are among his priorities.
Yılmaz stated that for the breakthrough they aim for in health technologies, the experience gained in other high technology fields should also be benefited from, and said:
"The most suitable area for this is the defense industry. The Republic of Turkey has gone through a revolution in the defense industry in the last quarter century. I am not saying there is a change. There has really been a revolution. We have brought the localization rate from 20 percent to over 80 percent today. This did not happen by itself, of course. It occurred with the very strong political will and support of our President and an appropriate institutional structuring and support mechanism.
We need to transfer the same model to civilian industries. We have written this in our plans and programs. We have such a general approach and one of them is the health industries. Why convenient health industries? Just like in the defense industry, the regulatory power and purchasing power of the public are effective in the health industries. When the public uses both its regulatory power and its purchasing power wisely, we can make rapid progress in the localization and nationalization of health industries. "This accumulation in the defense industry already offers us the necessary model."
"We must strengthen the financial system that supports entrepreneurs"
Pointing out that we are going through a period where conflicts are increasing, geopolitical tensions are rising, and technological transformations are accelerating, Yılmaz said:
"The new era is a period in which risks and uncertainties are high. In such a period, you cannot approach every field with the old free market conditions. When risks rise, risk sharing models need to come to the fore. At this point, the relationship between the private sector and the state needs to be reconsidered. The role of the state in the economy needs to become more active. In terms of managing these risks and continuing our development process. Therefore, I find the project here, perhaps a micro example, but very important. This is exactly the model we want. The public or the banking system, the financial system comes together with the producers and technological investments." "It is a project where the company came, shared the risks, and implemented it with a risk sharing model and public-private cooperation model."
Yılmaz emphasized that financial institutions should further develop new financial instruments that support project financing and said, "We need to strengthen a financial system that supports entrepreneurs who have good projects but do not have enough money and who do not have enough finance. This is our approach." he said.
"We aim to grow the gains"
Stating that there are 1850 medical device manufacturers registered in the Product Tracking System, Yılmaz stated that the number of domestically manufactured medical device barcodes reached 996 thousand today, from approximately 762 thousand in 2018.
Yılmaz stated that the share of domestic production in the medical device industry is approximately 15 percent, and medical device exports, which were 533 million dollars in 2017, increased to approximately 1.3 billion dollars in 2025.
Stating that Türkiye, which exports medical devices to more than 170 countries today, has gained a stronger position in global markets with the products it has developed in health technologies, Yılmaz said:
"We have reached an important level in terms of domestic production in our pharmaceutical industry. We increased our domestic production share, which was 75 percent on a box basis in 2016, to 92 percent in 2025. While maintaining this level in the first eight months of 2026, our domestic production share on a value basis was 52.5 percent. We have increased our pharmaceutical exports, which reached 2.55 billion dollars in the last 12 months, to a further level, especially with biotechnological drugs and innovative treatment products." "We aim to further expand these gains we have achieved in production and exports through the development of products based on advanced technology."
"The product imported for 5 thousand dollars is worth 1000 dollars in our country today"
Yılmaz pointed out that it is of great importance to combine the opportunities offered by the public with the entrepreneurial ability of the private sector, especially in areas such as health technologies that require high knowledge, long-term research and significant investment, and said:
"We see the production and investment-oriented approach of our public banks and financial institutions as an important element that supports our country's industrial and technology targets. The role played by our Ziraat Participation Bank in this field is extremely valuable in terms of directing public finance to high value-added production. The partnership with DESU Medikal in 2024 shows how financial power and industrial experience can come together in expanding the production capacity of a technology developing enterprise. As a matter of fact, the journey of DESU Medikal, which started in Hacettepe Teknokent, is here today "We have reached an important stage with the new production facility we have opened."
Stating that the company, which develops advanced technology products such as shunt and drainage systems used in brain surgery, catheters and collagen-based implants, has contributed to the production of many products in the country that were previously imported, Yılmaz said, "When you look at it, the product that was previously imported for 5 thousand dollars is now available for 1000 dollars in our country. On the one hand, as a country, you pay less foreign currency abroad, on the other hand, as a public, you spend less. It is really important in every respect. It is also a pleasure to carry these successes to international markets." giving." he said.
The opening ribbon of the facility was cut
Yılmaz stated that the company, which established its first production infrastructure with the support of KOSGEB and advanced its R&D and product development studies with the support of TÜBİTAK, has succeeded in carrying the technologies it developed to the international market, and said that the partnership established with Ziraat Katılım in 2024 strengthened the financial structure of the company and contributed to the development of its production capacity.
Following the speeches, the facility was opened with a ribbon cutting by the protocol members.
Later, Yılmaz toured the facility and received information from DESU Medical Board Chairman Mehmet Sorar and Ziraat Katılım General Manager Metin Özdemir.
On the other hand, Yılmaz visited Gölbaşı Municipality before the ceremony and met with Mayor Yakup Odabaşı.
