Work on one of Turkey's landmark projects, the Istanbul Finance Center (IFC), has been going full steam ahead, with rental agreements at the groundbreaking facility set to be signed soon.
By positioning Istanbul as an international finance hub (IFC), Turkey aims to boost the country's financial competitiveness in the international arena, plus spur the development of products and services for financial markets.
Anadolu Agency (AA) has toured the center at both the ground level and from the air to see progress at the sprawling hub, located in Turkey’s financial capital.
The IFC, with 81% completed as of this April, boasts 1.4 million square meters (15 million square feet) of office space, a 100,000-square-meter shopping center, a conference and performance center for 2,100 people, a five-star hotel spanning 30,000 square meters, and a parking lot with a capacity for 26,000 vehicles.
One of the main points setting the IFC apart from projects in other countries is that it was designed and built under the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With this in mind, the center was specially designed to be prepared for similar crises in the future and to support its business partners and employees.
The IFC aims to host nearly 100,000 employees and visitors daily.
Equipped with the latest technology, its 21 office buildings are being implemented using a smart city model surpassing international standards by gathering all the management systems under one roof.
The IFC campus will feature a 1.2-kilometer (.75-mile) social paraphernalia area along its middle axis.
Green areas within the IFC are planned to bolster its ecological integrity in line with the principles and principles of urban planning and public interest.
The project also includes walking paths, parks, and recreational areas to raise the quality of both work and life.
Road signs pointing to the IFC have begun to pop up already.
Contributing to the sustainable development of the Turkish economy, the center will offer various business and investment opportunities to both domestic and international companies and investors.
Financial institutions at the IFC will enjoy certain tax advantages, including having 75% of their income deducted from the corporate tax base.
They will also have fee and stamp exemptions.
The exemptions will also apply to regional treasury and financial management centers of institutions that are active in at least three countries.
A wide range of institutions, from banks to insurance companies, will unite in a single location under the IFC.
In order to make this ecosystem stronger, the IFC plans to adopt and encourage sustainable and participatory approaches for all financial services, especially in the field of international trade.
In addition, cooperation with international institutions and countries, primarily financial centers for strategic sectors, is expected to bring the IFC to the fore in the global arena in the months and years to come.
With the center’s legislative framework on track to pass Parliament soon, leasing is expected to start in the near future.
With rental requests pouring in from many firms both domestic and foreign, a list has been drawn up.
Thanks to the center’s "one-stop shopping" approach, the applications and paperwork of companies and their employees who want to work at the center can be coordinated from a single point.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has underlined the goal of making Turkey a hub for Islamic finance, stressing that the IFC is a critical part of this plan.
