One of Türkiye's prominent industry chambers recently unveiled a plan for establishing the country's largest technology hub in Ankara to harness the capital's untapped potential and propel it into the realm of the high value-added venture, according to an Anadolu Agency (AA) report.
In a written statement, Ankara Chamber of Industry (ASO) President Seyit Ardıç highlighted Ankara's advantageous position compared to many other cities within the country due to its 13 organized industrial zones, 150 R&D centers, 36 design centers, 13 technology development zones, qualified human resources, and entrepreneurship potential.
"We have set out on the path to establishing Türkiye's largest technology hub to transform this potential of our capital into high value-added," Ardıç said, adding that Türkiye's per capita export, which is $11,200, increases to $15,300 in technology development zones.
Comparing these figures with those in South Korea, where per capita exports reach $28,600, he underscored that the data in question reveals the importance of technology development zones being intertwined with industry.
"ASO Ankara Technology Hub will create an ecosystem where industry and university collaboration will strengthen, and startups will have closer relationships with industrial enterprises," he noted.
"It will feature market-oriented, high-export potential ventures," he added.
Moreover, Ardıç noted that the hub would bring together industry and technology-based entrepreneurship while R&D and innovation processes would focus directly on production.
"Cooperation will be established with organized industrial zones (OSB), and the commercialization process of products will be accelerated. Thus, a foundation will be laid for our per capita technology exports to reach $30,000 from the current level of $15,000," he explained.
Furthermore, he stated that Ankara's economic attractiveness is increasing daily and emphasized that there is a positive trend of migration to the city due to its low risk of natural disasters.
Elaborating on this, Ardıç said that the population in the capital has surged by approximately 1 million people in the last decade, referring to student figures contributing to this figure.
"About 500,000 of this increase occurred through migration, and according to research, university graduates constitute 35% of those who migrate to Ankara. Our qualified human resources is growing exponentially. The ecosystem created by ASO Ankara Technology Hub will also create job opportunities for thousands of engineers and scientists," he said.
The technology hub is set to be established on a 1.2 million square meter area on Eskişehir Road, where the industrial zones and universities are concentrated in the capital.
The studies related to the hub are being conducted within ASO Technopark Inc. Among the partners of the company are ASO 1. OSB, ASO 2. OSB, Middle East Technical University (METU), and TOBB University of Economics and Technology.
After the feasibility studies are completed, ASO Ankara Technology Hub, which is in its final stages, is planned to be operational after three to five years of investment.