About Turkish RDAs

The story of regional development agencies in Turkey, unlike the RDAs in Europe, does not go back a long way. Negotiations for Turkey's accession to the European Union continue. The 22nd chapter of the negotiations, consisting of 35 chapters, is about Regional Policies and Coordination of Structural Instruments. Within the scope of this Chapter, what is expected from Turkey is the creation of decentralised strong institutional structures in which regional policies can be designed and implemented. With this vision, it was decided to establish Development Agencies in Turkey.

The infrastructure of the Development Agencies planned to be established in 26 NUTS II Regions in Turkey had been prepared with the law on the Services of Development Agencies, in 2006. With this law, the main purposes of the Agencies were determined as:

• initiating cooperation among public, private, and NGOs (non-governmental organisations), 
• ensuring appropriate and effective use of resources, 
• accelerating and improving local potential in a sustainable way,
• reducing inter-regional and intra-regional development disparities. 

Pilot agencies (CKA, IZKA) were established in 2008. With these successful examples, the establishment of other 24 agencies was gradually completed in 2010.

Currently, more than 1200 staff are employed in 26 development agencies. These agencies are coordinated by the General Directorate of Development Agencies under the Ministry of Industry and Technology at the national level. Most of the employees have a master’s degree or above, can speak at least one foreign language, know their region very well, are highly motivated and have an average of 10 years of experience.

Development Agencies are special institutions in Turkish public administration. The structure of the Board of Directors and the Board of Development designed to ensure participation in the regions and the hybrid income structure are the most important indicators of this uniqueness. To increase the power and inclusiveness of the agencies in the regions, the Board of Directors, where strategic decisions are taken, consists of the most important decision-makers of the province, such as the governor, mayor, and chamber of trade office presidents. In addition, the Board of Development, a recommendation body consisting of the public, NGOs, and private sector representatives of the region, plays a key role in the decision-making process.

The income structure, which is another feature that makes the agencies special, should also be mentioned. Some part of the revenues of the agencies come from the national budget, while others are from local shares. In recent years, the Agencies can use an extra-national budget for regional development with different transfer mechanisms such as Social Development Programme (SOGEP) and Attraction Centers Support Program (CMDP). According to Development Agencies Activity Report released in 2020, the total planned budget of all Agencies based in Turkey was around 350 million Euros. Examining the distribution of this budget, 41% of it comes from local shares like municipalities, chamber of commerce offices, and provincial special administrations, while 25% is directly from the national budget and 22% is indirectly from the national budget through SOGEP and CMDP. The rest 12% is from European Union funds and other sources of revenue like interest and donations. The inclusion of local shares in the budget ensures transparency and sustainability of the agencies as well as local participation.

Agencies work on many thematic issues under the main axes of social and economic development, small-scale infrastructure, investment promotion and cooperation for development in the regions. In addition to collaborative work that interests many agencies, some agencies specialise in more specific issues according to the potential areas they are analysing in their regions. Entrepreneurship, clustering, smart specialisation, foreign trade, low carbon economy, renewable energy, social inclusion and cohesion, agriculture and rural development are just a few of them.  Below, there is a general national view of the subjects that the agencies work and specialise in. The numbers in the parentheses show how many agencies are working in that field.

About OKA 

Currently working for the development of the TR83 Region (Amasya, Samsun, Çorum and Tokat) with 40 personnel, the Middle Black Sea Development Agency (OKA) is in its 13th year of operation. In these 13 years, it has contributed to the region with numerous concrete steps by planning, programming, and implementing projects, initiating cooperation, and giving consultancy for investment and foreign trade.

OKA has shifted its way of doing business from annual work plans to medium-term result-oriented programmes (ROP) in recent years. Thus, it will be able to make more focused and systematic interventions to priority sectors, target groups or themes by considering resource efficiency. The agency is currently deepening its activities on 4 main ROPs. These are:

1. Branding of Cities on the Axis of Culture and Nature
2. Value-added Production and Export
3. Local Development Opportunities 
4. Corporate Development

In the first ROP under the branding of cities, OKA is working on sustainable destination plans, gastronomy tourism, UNESCO inventory studies, ecotourism, and regional promotion. In the second ROP under value-added production and export, OKA circles its activities to support companies with their foreign trade efforts. In line with this aim, trainings, matchmaking activities and target market analysis are ongoing activities. The third ROP includes the activities which OKA cannot underestimate for local development but is not related to the previous 2 ROPS like; R&D inventory study in the region, women cooperatives, Project Cycle Management (PCM) training programmes to increase capacity for project preparation and implementation, awareness raising activities about European Union green Deal and sustainability. The last ROP, on the other hand, focuses more on the corporate functioning of the agency and its efforts to achieve organisational excellence.  

One of the main purposes of the agencies in the regions is to carry out planning studies. OKA is currently preparing a Regional Plan for 2024-2028 inclusively and analytically. This regional plan, just like previous plans, will also be a baseline for the Regional Development National Strategy (BGUS) which will be prepared by the General Directorate of Development Agencies. In addition to the Regional Plan, OKA has also prepared several strategic documents such as the Corporate Strategic Plan, Regional Innovation Strategy, Gender Mainstreaming Action Plan, NGO (non-governmental organizations) Development Strategy, Smart Specialization Strategy, Foreign Trade Analysis and Local Equality Action Plan.

According to the results of planning studies, there are several mechanisms to support priority sectors under ROPs for both the private sector, public bodies, and NGOs. The grant ratio is higher for public bodies and NGOs, but the co-financing ratio is a strong asset for getting approval. There is a tendency on a national baseline that agencies are much more focusing on interest–free loans for the private sector rather than grants due to the possible adverse effects of the grant mechanism. 

SOGEP and CMDP have different structures. The Ministry carries out the scope and final decisions of these programs. Funding for the program comes from the national budget. SOGEP focuses on social problems and the inclusion of disadvantaged groups. On the other hand, CMDP primarily aims to create self-sustainable economic entities which provide employment. 

Figure 1: Support Tools of OKA

OKA has supported 969 projects with a total investment of around 60 million EURO between 2009 and 2022. Since it was the main support mechanism so far, it is useful to reveal the main intervention areas with call for proposal supports. For 13 years, OKA has assisted SMEs (Small or Medium-sized Enterprises) with their external opening, foreign trade struggles, R&D and innovation activities, machinery capacity and renewable energy investments. On the other hand, OKA has supported public bodies and other NGOs for their projects on small infrastructure for tourism, disadvantaged groups, renewable energy, organised industrial zones infrastructure, vocational and technical education, rural development, and agriculture. OKA has also implemented social support programs to help disadvantaged people, sustain social inclusion, and create jobs for them. 

OKA tries not only to use its resources but also to provide foreign resources to the region to activate the development of the region and it is one of the successful performers among the TRDAs on European Union project implementation. It has been involved in 15 outsourced projects as an applicant, partner or associate since 2010. Two of these projects are especially important in terms of their strategic role and the added value they create. 

The first of these EU-funded projects is the Samsun Logistics Centre Project (SLC). In 2010, the Logistic Master Plan of the Middle Black Sea Region was prepared, and a platform was established to coordinate logistics issues of the region. With the help of this plan the SLC Project, the beneficiary of which is OKA was accepted by the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) Fund with a budget of approximately 41.3 million Euros. The Project included the establishment of a new Logistics Center which brings together and connects the scattered areas, the establishment of storage facilities, parking places, customs areas and offices, and training programs to have a qualified labour force in the sector. OKA's support for the facility continues. Within the scope of the 2019 Attraction Centers Support Program (CMDP), horizontal warehouses were built, and loader vehicles were purchased to increase the storage diversity of the centre and to provide bulk cargo services.

Another important EU-funded project is OKAREKAP. The Project, financed with an 8 million Euro budget also under IPA, aims to increase the institutional capacity of OKA, to use this capacity to serve the Region better and to increase the competitiveness of the Region. The delivery of the OKA service building within the scope of this project took place in June 2017, and the Agency started its activities in the new service building in the heart of Samsun Industrial Zone.

Another important mission of the agencies is to carry out analysis, support, and promotion activities to attract investments for the regions. To carry out these duties OKA`s Investment Support Offices (ISO) serve as a one-stop office. They facilitate investment processes on behalf of the government for investors by promoting the region, providing necessary data, assisting with land allocation, incentive consultancy and application, and communication with public institutions. ISOs also analyse potential investments on site such as: thermal or mountain hotels, biomass power plants, manufacturing of medical devices, manufacturing of bio packages or stone papers made of limestone instead of cellulose, processing hazelnut, vegetables, fruits, manufacturing of electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablets, and electronic components, greenhouses, fish processing, aromatic plant cultivation. 

In line with our Result Oriented Programmes, OKA is focusing on creating an impact on foreign trade. Due to relatively weak currency, it becomes a necessity for companies to export goods and services. For the last three years, OKA has initiated a body named Competitiveness and Foreign Trade Support Centre. To produce meaningful market data for companies, annual subscriptions to databases such as Tendata and Hoovers are purchased. Within the scope of the work carried out under this centre with close collaboration with Chambers of Commerce and Industry in the region, import & export target market research, potential customer research, product and price analysis, customer communication, import supplier research, tender inquiries, and direct consultancy support services are provided free of charge. 

Finally, OKA has been a member of EURADA since 2010. Agency received great support from EURADA on Europe-wide networking, joint project planning, cooperation with international actors, participation in events and sharing the potential of its Region and own experience with other members. OKA is also on the EURADA Board of Directors for the 3rd time in the 2020-2023 period. It is OKA`s sincere goal to continue this close relationship, develop new joint projects, further strengthen the interaction with other members of EURADA and deepen the two-way movements for personnel training and development.

For any further information please contact Fatih EGE.