The Turkish government continues its efforts to move up in the ease of doing business indexes in the world. As a supplementary step to the previous reforms and incentive policies, Law no. 7099 on the “Amendments to Certain Laws for Improvement of the Investment Environment” was published in the Official Gazette on March 10, 2018. The 35-article reform package, which aims to improve the investment environment in Türkiye, focuses on reducing the number of transactions required to set up a company; facilitating bureaucratic procedures such as building permits and title deed transactions in the real estate sector; reducing several costs regarding foreign trade transactions and thus easing trade in Türkiye; reducing the procedures to obtain infrastructure permits in telecom services; and easing the access of SMEs to finance.
A key feature of the package is the reduction of transactions required to set up a company in Türkiye. Trade Registry Offices will become "one-stop-shops" for company establishment, and investors will be able to establish a company at a single institution and without the need for an intermediary.
In the real estate sector, a new online platform will be established to link transactions in various institutions, such as the land registry office, the tax office, and the Social Security Institution (SSI), which in turn will reduce the need to carry out procedures across multiple municipal offices.
The set of amendments to the legislation has been welcomed by entrepreneurs. The new law not only lessens red tape, but it also brings about a considerable reduction in expenses incurred, thus emerging as a source of motivation for the whole business community.