Over the last decade, Turkey has grown significantly as a prominent investment hub for businessmen from all over the world due to its strategic location, developing economy, large domestic market, skilled labor force, low taxes on a corporation, massive business opportunities, and great returns. Along with these opportunities, the Turkish Nationality law stipulates that foreign investors with their spouses and children will be able to acquire Turkey citizenship or residency by investment within six months without any need for an interview or residency requirements.
Foreign investors aiming to obtain Turkey citizenship can take advantage of immense opportunities in various sectors including tourism, real estate, manufacturing, agrifood, financial services and startups, renewable energy, logistics, and transportation, among others. They can also avail the flexible investment atmosphere and thriving economy, low cost of taxes, world-class infrastructure, and the ideal geographical location.
Top Benefits you will get from Turkey Citizenship
Promising Real estate market
Turkey is one of Europe\’s most promising real estate markets, as it is home to 83 million people and strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia. It provides an outstanding potential for real estate developers and investors by combining a big construction industry with growing commercial and industrial activity.
Real estate investments in Turkey represented 57 percent of the total Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in 2020, reaching $4.4 billion. Urban renewal and mega projects dominate the agenda for the foreseeable future, especially in Istanbul. Sales of real estate to foreigners have increased since removing the reciprocity law in 2012, as in 2020 solely, 40,812 homes were sold to them. While shopping center openings were on an upward trend in 2021, there is still room for development activities in secondary cities.
There is also high demand for high-quality A-Grade office supplies, which is quite limited. The International Financial Centre (IIFC), which will be completed end of this year, is expected to bring new dynamics to the office market for local and global businesses.
High-net-worth individuals who make a minimum fixed capital investment of $400,000 can acquire Turkey citizenship by investment and benefit from several incentives, and tax exemptions.
Unparalleled Destination
As a world-famous tourism destination, Turkey was considered by UNWTO in 2021, the 4th most popular tourist country in the world, with the number of international tourist arrivals reached 29.9 million. In 2021, tourism revenues doubled to almost $25 billion, recovering from Covid-19 pandemic, but remained well below the $34 billion recorded in 2019.
Turkey was also ranked 3rd globally among 49 countries with its 519 blue flag awarded beaches in 2021. The country has set the target to welcome 50 million travelers as a part of Vision 2023 goal, and to generate $50 billion. This is one of the main reason why investors are aiming for Turkey Citizenship.
Although the country has currently more than 900 hotels that are providing more than 177,000 rooms across the country, investors aiming to get Turkey citizenship by investment still have vast investment opportunities in both the established and new developing tourist subsectors. There is huge potential in building new hotels, and lodges, and in Halal tourism, which has been observed lately as one of the prospective trends within the Middle Eastern countries.
There is also potential for building new medical cities, as a growing number of patients, are visiting Turkey for health services and for its unique thermal facilities to get better and healthier.
The government offers investors many incentives such as reduced utility prices and tax rates, while also pursuing policies aimed at removing any bureaucratic barriers that may hinder growth in this sector.
Fruitful agro-food sector
Being located near the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Turkey’s agricultural sector currently echoes the success of ancient Mesopotamia. With its perfect geographical and temperature circumstances, extensive arable areas, and ample water resources, Turkey is regarded as one of the world\’s major agricultural and food producing countries. The country has a robust agricultural and food industry that accounted for 6.6 percent of its GDP in 2020.
Turkey is the world\’s tenth-largest agricultural producer and the global leader in fig, hazelnut, quince, and apricot production. It is also the region\’s biggest producer of milk and dairy products. Moreover, Turkey has an estimated total of 11,000 plant species, whereas Europe has 11,500 species. It offers major investment opportunities in agribusiness subsectors such as greenhouse production, animal and plant-based proteins, seeds, walnuts and almonds, pet food, infant food, and aquaculture.
Turkey aims to be the preferred regional headquarters and supply base for big global agriculture businesses. It provides many incentives to potential agricultural investors to boost investments.
Thriving Startup Ecosystem
Turkey’s technology advantages, along with the continuous reform process and tailored incentives, have resulted in a robust startup environment throughout the years. On the funding side, the Turkish startup ecosystem encompasses business angel networks as well as venture capital (VC) and private equity firms.
On the supporting side, Turkey has accelerators, technoparks, mentors, and government organizations. Grocery delivery, gaming, prop-tech, fintech, and blockchain were the biggest sectors for capital raising in 2021, while gaming, artificial intelligence, deep tech, fintech, and health-tech dominated the number of transactions.
With the support of a mature startup ecosystem, a large and young population with high-tech penetration rates, an affordable and competent developer pool, an increasing investment trend in diverse industries, and successful exits to global companies, Turkey expects more unicorns to appear soon. Investors who are looking to obtain Turkey citizenship by investment are very welcome to invest in its startup ecosystem, directly or through funds, to take advantage of the next successful exit rounds.
More promising sectors
In addition to the above benefits of Turkey Citizenship, there are promising investment opportunities in other sectors including logistics and transportation, automotive, and financial services. The country is looking to increase the number of logistic centers on a national scale, develop and expand the dry port system, support digital transformation, to position itself as a logistic hub in the middle corridor.
Turkey has also proven itself as a production hub of excellence, where the automotive industry aims at improving its R&D, design, and branding capabilities. It is also targeting to transform Istanbul to a prominent financial center, as its large and young population, qualified labor force, and developing markets, make it an ideal international financial hub.
Stimulus packages
To encourage international investors to contribute in Turkey’s economy, the institutional profit tax on foreign investors has been decreased from 33% to 20%. Foreigners are free from this tax in several instances, either entirely or partially. Investors are also encouraged in specific places where the government has allotted land and other incentive schemes.
When it comes to fundamental infrastructure, such as transportation, communications, electricity, and technical infrastructure, Turkey has witnessed robust growth, making it attractive for international investment. While there are significant barriers to identifying foreign investments in some countries, Turkey, a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), has begun to raise such obstacles, and today it reached a stage where a company is founded every 6 days.
Requirements for Turkey Citizenship
To qualify for obtaining Turkey citizenship by investment and citizenship, applicants must invest $400,000 in real estate in Turkey, which needs to be held for only 3 years. It is important to select a real estate project that can provide the necessary paperwork required from the developer for the citizenship application.
For more information required about acquiring Turkey citizenship by investment, and the financial goals, please visit this page.