| Legislative framework of Foreign Investment Policy of
Turkey consists of:
1. The law concerning the
encouragement of foreign capital dated January 18, 1954 (App:1)
2. Foreign Capital Framework Decree dated June 7, 1995 (App:2)
3. Communiqué Concerning the Degree on the Framework for Foreign Investment.
The main principals of the Foreign Investment policy are:
- Equal Treatment: Foreign investors have the same rights and
obligations as the domestic capital.
- No limitation in participation of foreign capital.
- Free transfer of profits, fees and royalties and
repatriation of capital in the event of liquidation, or sale are guaranteed.
- Open field of activity: All fields which are open to the
Turkish private sector are open to foreign participated countries.
- Employment of Foreigners: There is no limitation for
assigning expatriates as managers and technical staff.
- One stop agency: General Directorate of Foreign Investment
(GDFI) within the Undersecreteriat of Treasury, has been authorised to implement these
policies effectively. The Directorate guides and assists foreign investors, receives and
processes foreign investment applications. The detailed application process can be found
in the Communiqué.
As a quick reference, main principles of this communiqué
are summarised as follows and numbers of related articles are also indicated.
- For the purpose of making investments and carrying out
commercial activities, to establish a joint-stock or limited liability company is
necessary. For establishing a company or opening a branch office, minimum capital
requirement (per real or legal person) is 50.000 US Dollars. (Article 2)
- Real and legal persons resident abroad can buy or sell the
shares of existing companies according to principles determined by the General Directorate
of Foreign Investment (Article 3)
- Legal entities resident abroad can establish a liaison
office in Turkey. (Article 4)
- Capital increase can be realised without taking any
permission if participation ratios of foreign partners do not change. After the capital
increase, the application is sent to Undersecretariat for only registration purpose.
(Article 6)
- There is no condition of approval of license know-how,
technical assistance and management agreements. Only the registration of these agreements
is done through the Undersecretariat. (Article 7)
- The foreign exchanges (including effectives) brought from
abroad for the purpose of establishing corporations, increasing capital or buying the
shares of existing Turkish companies can be blocked in the Foreign Exchange Deposits
Account. (Article 10)
- Foreign citizens can be employees as administrative and
technical personnel in private sector enterprises, provided that such personnel have
sufficient technical and administrative knowledge. (Article 12)
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|
 Undersectreatiat
of Treasury |
