Investment plan to go before Turkish parliament

By Bahattin Gonultas and Fatih Dogan

ANKARA

The Turkish government is working to improve the country’s investment environment with a series of proposed measures – including tax cuts – designed to attract investors, Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli said on Monday.

“The government will send a very strong package, which will improve the country's business environment, to the national parliament in the coming days," Canikli told a news conference in Ankara.

Canikli said Turkey would introduce measures to make it easier for foreign citizens with skills to get work permits: "There will be more flexibility in the system," he said.

Within scope of the package, skilled workers from abroad and qualified investors able to support development, make investments and contribute to technological advances, will be given a ‘Turkuaz [Turquoise] Card’, enabling them to stay and work in Turkey permanently.

“Details will be made clear in the bill which we will dispatch to the National Assembly soon," he added.

The package will introduce new regulations to the existing tax scheme: “We will remove all barriers to the development of Islamic finance products to boost the inflow of capital from Islamic countries and transport some financing means into Turkey,” Canikli said.

“In this context, there will be adjustments to corporate tax law, value-added tax, stamp tax and fees,” he added.