Türkiye has been going through a hard time regarding its economy. Coping with the inflation, high prices, low payments, high interest rates, and a poor management of the situation as many citizens say. Therefore, Türkiye was striving for some catalysers for economic development and also improvements in the general welfare of the Turkish citizens. The Turkish Development Fund was established to foster the country’s economic infrastructure.
In December 2019, the Turkish Development Fund was officially founded. In July 2020, the Regional Development Fund was established. In the following years some other funds in the areas of technology, research and science, such as the Tübitak BIGG Fund, Technology and Innovation Fund, were also established, supporting Türkiye in many ways.
The main vision is to create strong companies, both regionally and globally, engaged in significant industries as well as supporting high technology production enterprises via this fund. The mission statement is as follows: “It is our prioritized mission to provide support to the structural transformation of our country in line with sustainable development priorities and create value both for our investors and for the portfolio companies with the help of the funds established by our experienced team.”
The board members focus on capital structured finance investments for companies with high expansion potential and they follow several strategies for that. Firstly, as the sectoral focus, they will prioritise sectors in the development and critical technologies. In the earliest stage, through close connections with the ecosystem, they will focus on the trends of the market. In the growth stage, companies may particularly reduce the current deficit and raise the value-added exports. Secondly, the value creation approach will provide expansion of capital, solution of organisation problems that occur due to 2nd or 3rd generation changes, strategic support in the fields of management, helping for the operational productivity, and resource utilisation. As for the investment criteria, experienced and proficient management teams should adopt high ethical values, should be determined to the investment exit strategy from day zero, cash-generating capacity/potential and high cash conversion ratio, should manage the impacts of such risks as exchange rate, and more. Generally, it can be said that they take several initiatives for development.
The Regional Development Fund is has a capacity of 525 million Turkish Liras; it focuses on expansion and development-oriented medium-size enterprises and regional SMEs. The companies Appsilon, which make human made diamonds, and Zaxe, manufacturing 3D printers, are a part of this fund’s portfolio.
Another fund is the Development and Investment Bank of Türkiye Capital Fund, and it has a fund size of 430 million TRY. Some direct investments are Figopara, a digital lending platform for SMEs, Ödeal, a payment intermediary, and Fazla, a technology based holistic waste management platform.
Some key initiatives that are planned to be taken or being taken are job creation, foreign investment, export growth, and innovation. Some challenges that could be expected in the future are environmental concerns because, with a development this rapid, it is severe to sustain an environmental order. Economic volatility and political stability are also some things that could be expected in the future.
The hopes of transitioning Türkiye into a high-income economy as well as an increased global competitiveness and wanting to have regional and sustainable development, this fund may be an effective way.
The Turkish Development Fund stands as a statement for Türkiye’s commitment to economic modernisation and sustainable growth. Moreover, with the strategic decisions and moves, they are hoping to transform Türkiye. The fund offers Türkiye as stronger future in the areas of finance, science and general innovation. These elements may come together and serve as some core successes of Türkiye.