The Competitive Sectors Program (RSP) IPA II Period Closing Conference, themed "Turning Innovation into Impact", which is co-financed by the Ministry of Industry and Technology and the European Union (EU), was held at JW Marriott Hotel Ankara.
In his speech here, Kacır said that Türkiye, under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has made a great breakthrough in the field of industry and technology in the last 23 years.
Emphasizing that Türkiye, with its competitive production infrastructure, is today the leading exporter country in terms of product and market diversity in a wide range extending from China to Central Europe, Kacır said, "Turkey's economy offers important opportunities for international investments and new collaborations with its dynamism." he said.
Kacır pointed out that they see their deep-rooted relations with the EU and partnership law as a strategic value for Turkey, and stated that the Turkish industry is an integral part of Europe's production and supply chains in many sectors, from automotive to machinery, from white goods to textiles.
Pointing out that the bilateral trade volume, which reached 233 billion dollars last year, reveals the level of integration between economies reached, Kacır said, "Our goal of full membership in the EU is the expression of our will to shape the future of our continent together, under the same roof with the rest of Europe. We see EU programs and pre-accession financial cooperation mechanisms as strategic tools that strengthen our relations in line with our goal of full membership and transform our common priorities into concrete projects and investments." made his assessment.
260 MILLION EUROS SUPPORT FOR 43 PROJECTS DURING IPA II PERIOD
Kacır informed that in the first period of IPA, they focused on accelerating regional development and increasing the competitiveness of SMEs and continued as follows:
"By providing approximately 500 million euros to 46 projects in 43 provinces, we established 10 business development centers, 9 common-use production facilities, 8 R&D and innovation centers, 3 licensed warehouses and a logistics center. With the investments we have made so far, we have brought together more than 20 thousand SMEs with modern production infrastructures and pioneered the establishment of approximately 300 new businesses. In order to give our businesses a more competitive structure, we have provided 1 billion euros to more than 14 thousand SMEs. "We created a loan volume and provided investment support of 50 million euros to our initiatives."
Drawing attention to the work done in the second period of the program, Kacır said, "In this period, we provided approximately 260 million euros to 43 projects in 23 provinces." he said. Kacır stated that in the second term, they offered a comprehensive technology infrastructure consisting of 25 R&D and innovation centers, 3 digital transformation centers, 8 common use facilities and 3 test and analysis centers to the service of industry, researchers and universities, and with these infrastructures, they brought together more than 1000 SMEs with advanced technology opportunities.
Emphasizing that they paved the way for the development of more than 200 innovative products and prototypes and the commercialization of 40 products by pioneering the establishment of nearly 80 research partnerships between universities, research institutions and industrialists, Kacır explained that they moved Türkiye's technology development and intellectual property capacity forward by registering 40 patents with the original R&D studies they carried out in the centers.
Kacır also drew attention to other projects being carried out and said:
"In Horizon Europe, the world's largest civilian R&D program, we have brought 496 million euros of funding support to our country with 992 projects in which our country's organizations have participated since 2021. Our organizations have undertaken consortium coordination in 85 projects and assumed important responsibilities as not only participants in Europe's research and innovation ecosystem, but also as actors leading international research partnerships and directing innovative projects. To date, a total of 243 thousand 654 SMEs, "With the 'Digital Europe Program', of which we are the national coordinator, we provide our industrialists, entrepreneurs and universities with access to the critical infrastructures established within the scope of the program. Thanks to this cooperation, our researchers and institutions have benefited from approximately 100 million dollars worth of computing capacity in Europe's leading supercomputer infrastructures."
PRIORITIES OF THE IPA III PERIOD
Kacır stated that they have accelerated the digital transformation of SMEs, entrepreneurs and public institutions with 8 consortia participating in the European Digital Innovation Centers network.
At this point, Kacır pointed out the strong synergy between IPA II and the Digital Europe Program and stated that by integrating the technology and innovation infrastructures established within the scope of IPA II into the European Digital Innovation Centers Network, they strengthened the sustainability of these investments and enabled the centers to benefit more effectively from information, cooperation and financing opportunities across Europe.
Kacır stated that they are determined to carry this experience created by Türkiye and the EU to the next period by preserving, developing and providing it with new opportunities, and added:
"During the IPA III period, we support the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry and carry out projects that will strengthen green transformation, resource efficiency and research capacity. We want to take the cooperation we have developed with the EU in the field of green transformation with the Turkish Industry Decarbonization Investment Platform (TIDIP) to a further level, including international financial institutions. We evaluate that the EU support of 5.7 million euros to be provided for TIDIP within the scope of IPA III will make a significant contribution to strengthening the platform and mobilizing more financing for decarbonization investments of our industry. In the coming period Our priority is to further advance this accumulation we have built between Turkey and the EU in 20 years and to deepen our partnership with new generation technologies and strategic investments. In this regard, we closely follow the EU's Global Europe and European Competitiveness Fund studies for the 2028-2034 fiscal period. Türkiye's development goals, in a wide range from green transformation to digital technologies, from health and biotechnology to the defense industry and space, show a strong harmony with Europe's new era priorities. "We are ready to turn it into investments and long-term collaborations."
Kacır emphasized that it is in the common interest of both parties to benefit from Türkiye's opportunities and capabilities to the maximum extent while advancing towards the goal of increasing Europe's competitiveness again, and made the following assessment:
"Our expectation is to implement a financial cooperation model based on mutual gains, taking into account our country's candidacy status, its integrated structure with the European economy, and the institutional knowledge we have built together over the past 20 years. As the Ministry, we are ready to design and implement projects, together with the EU, that meet Türkiye's needs and potential, combine strategic investments with financing, and open new horizons for our partnerships in the field of science and technology."
After the opening speeches, Minister Kacır presented awards to the project owners who were successful and stood out in the program.
