28 September 2017•Update: 28 September 2017
By Tuba Sahin and Dilara Zengin
ISTANBUL
Turkey will complete a digital transformation roadmap in line with the recently unveiled 2018-2020 Medium Term Program (MTP), Development Minister Lutfi Elvan said on Thursday.
"We will improve infrastructure for domestic production and the efficient use of high technologies such as the internet of things, robotics, big data, artificial intelligence and augmented reality," Elvan said in a speech at the Istanbul Financial Summit.
Design and digital transformation centers will be set up in big organized industrial zones in order to enable businesspeople to adapt to Industrie 4.0, Elvan stated.
Elvan added that education and R&D investments foreseen in Turkey's MTP will enrich human capital, increase employment and form better quality work.
"We will pay attention on training researchers in the field of nanotechnology, biotechnology, information and communication technology and advanced material technology [during the MTP]," Elvan said.
Elvan noted that the government will back setting up research infrastructures, R&D support programs and commercialize in those fields.
"In return of building infrastructure, the level of technology in production will increase and our country will go up in the global value chain," Elvan said.
The government would endeavor to create a more convenient atmosphere to attract investments that will boost Turkey's growth while they focus on the ameliorating investment environment in the country, Elvan said.
Elvan underlined that they concentrate on increasing investment of private sector.
Prototype developing processes along with investment of technology products and clustering works mainly in energy, health, automotive, rail systems, informatics and defense sectors will be supported, Elvan said.
Elvan underlined that they were keen to reduce dependence on imports of intermediate goods by increasing domestic production.
The government will give priority to investments in the petrochemical, pharmacy and defense industry sectors to reach its target of reducing import dependency, Elvan added.
The share of intermediate goods in Turkey's foreign trade stood at 74.1 percent in January-July 2017, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).
