Ergun: "Turkey will spend more on research and development efforts"

Industry and Trade Minister Nihat Ergun said yesterday that low-tech products now dominate Turkey's production and exports, and that this must be changed. Speaking at the Technology Entrepreneurship Summit organized by Middle East Technical University (ODTU) in Ankara, Ergun said that if Turkey wants to be one of the world's top 10 economies, it must invest in information, science, research and innovation. Producing knowledge carries greater importance than access to knowledge acquired through imports, he said, adding that adopting imported technology will raise the standards of a country to only a limited degree. Turkey has been focusing on investing in research and development in recent years, Ergun said, explaining that the 2010 target of 40,000 jobs in research and development was reached in 2006 and that their target for 2013 is to increase this figure to some 150,000 jobs. The government also plans to spend 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on research and development by 2013, he added.