Ministry of Trade Incentives for Setting Up a Company Abroad 2026

What Are the Ministry of Trade Incentives for Companies Abroad?

When a company resident in Türkiye opens an office abroad, acquires a foreign brand or runs promotional activity in a target market, a substantial share of those costs is reimbursed by the Ministry of Trade. The legal framework is Decree No. 5973 on Export Supports, published in the Official Gazette on 18 August 2022.

The Decree contains no line item called "company formation fee". Support is built around the real cost components of an international structure: rent, promotion, financial and legal consultancy, trademark registration, market research and the interest on acquisition financing. That distinction matters in practice. Registering an OÜ in Estonia or a free zone entity in Dubai is not reimbursed; the office that entity rents, the campaigns it runs and the brand it acquires are.

Which Cost Items Does Decree 5973 Cover?

• Rent for foreign units (office, store, warehouse, showroom, department) and shared-office membership fees
• Financial and legal consultancy for acquiring companies and brands resident abroad
• Interest on loans used to finance those acquisitions
• Advertising, promotion and marketing spend carried out abroad
• International trademark registration, market entry certificates and market research
• Trade fair participation, sectoral trade delegations and buying delegations

Article 9 on Acquisition Support Has Been Rewritten

Article 9, which governs company and brand acquisition support, was redrafted in 2026 and the ceilings were raised sharply. Many pages online still quote the figures from the original 2022 text, such as TRY 3,000,000 and TRY 45,000,000. Every amount below is taken from the consolidated version of the Decree published by the Ministry of Trade.

2026 Support Rates and Upper Limits

Two variables drive every calculation: the support rate (what share of the expense is covered) and the upper limit (the maximum payable per year). The base rate in the Decree is 50%. For expenses directed at target countries designated by the Ministry, the rate may be increased by up to 20 points, with a further 5 points where the expense falls within a target sector in those countries. Under no circumstances may the payment exceed 75% of the eligible expense.

How Are the Upper Limits Updated Each Year?

The TRY ceilings in the Decree are not fixed. They are revised at the beginning of every calendar year by (CPI + D-PPI) / 2. To find the current ceiling for a given item, the Ministry's annual "Support Upper Limits" tables should be consulted rather than the nominal figure in the Decree. In the first year of support the full annual ceiling applies; in the final year, amounts already received in previous years are offset against the remaining entitlement.

Company and Brand Acquisition Support

The fastest route into a foreign market is often buying an operating business rather than building one. Article 9 targets exactly that scenario and carries the highest ceilings in the entire support package.

Figures are the nominal amounts in the consolidated text of Decree 5973 and are indexed at the start of each calendar year.

Financial and Legal Consultancy Support

Due diligence, valuation, contract drafting and tax structuring in a cross-border deal reach seven figures quickly. The Decree covers half of these costs, up to TRY 28,000,000 per year. The decisive condition is that the target company must be advanced-technology and capable of transferring technology. That characteristic is not established by the applicant's own declaration; it is confirmed through the Ministry's evaluation process.

Interest Support: 5 Points on TRY Loans, 2 Points on FX Loans

Where the acquisition is debt financed, part of the interest is also covered: 5 points on Turkish Lira loans and 2 points on foreign currency and FX-indexed loans, up to a total of TRY 171,000,000. Three limits apply together:

• Interest support may not exceed 50% of the interest actually paid.
• It is granted for payments made within 5 years of the first interest payment date.
• The eligible loan amount is capped at 50% of the acquisition price.

In practice, a TRY 100 million acquisition can generate interest support on no more than TRY 50 million of financing.

The Non-Duplication Rule

Companies benefiting from the rent and promotion items of Article 9 cannot at the same time claim unit rent support, promotion support, design support, the brand and TURQUALITY® programmes or export consortium support. The route has to be chosen before the spending starts.

Unit Rent Support: Office, Store and Warehouse

For companies building their own structure rather than buying one, unit rent support is the core item. Rent for foreign units marketing goods produced in Türkiye, together with shared-office membership fees, is supported at 50% up to TRY 2,000,000 per unit per year. The inclusion of coworking memberships lowers the entry cost considerably for companies not yet ready to sign a physical lease.

Duration and the 25-Unit Cap

Rent support is available for a maximum of 4 years per country, and a company may claim support for at most 25 units in total. Because the four-year clock runs per country, a company that exhausts it in Germany can start a fresh four-year period in the Netherlands. Sequencing target markets deliberately has a direct effect on the total amount received.

Who Is Eligible for These Incentives?

The legislation defines the beneficiary as a "company" and in practice applies the framework to capital companies. A documented ownership or control relationship between the foreign unit and the applicant in Türkiye is required.

Can Sole Proprietorships Benefit?

Unit and promotion supports are administered through capital companies; sole proprietorships fall outside them. A sole trader planning to expand abroad should convert to a limited or joint stock company before applying.

What Is the "Organic Link" and How Is It Documented?

The organic link is the ownership or control relationship between the unit abroad and the applicant company in Türkiye. The unit may be a branch of the applicant, may belong to a foreign company in which the applicant holds shares, or may be a branch of that foreign company. The link must be evidenced through commercial registry records, shareholding documents and official foreign paperwork bearing consular or apostille certification.

When Is Support Refused?

• Goods not produced in Türkiye are marketed through the unit
• The organic link cannot be evidenced
• The lease is not issued in the name of the applicant or its affiliated unit
• Payment is made in cash or outside the banking system
• The same expense is claimed under more than one support item
• The application deadline is missed

Application Process and Required Documents

Applications are filed electronically through the Support Management System (DYS). Files are examined by the Secretariats General of Exporters' Associations.

Deadlines: 6 Months to File, 3 Months to Complete

An application must be filed within 6 months of the payment document date. Where missing information or documents are identified during the review, the period to complete them is 3 months. Interest support claims are submitted in quarterly batches. These are strict deadlines; a late file cannot be cured by reapplying.

Document Checklist

• Lease agreement or shared-office membership contract
• Bank receipt and account statement evidencing payment through the banking system
• Invoice or an equivalent expense document valid under local law
• Shareholding and registry documents establishing the organic link
• Consular or apostille certification for documents issued abroad
• Trademark registration certificate for promotion support
• Valuation report for company and brand acquisitions

Payment Rules and Exchange Rate

Support is paid in Turkish Lira. For expenses incurred in foreign currency, the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye indicative rate on the payment document date applies. Cash payments and transfers routed through third parties are not accepted; every expense must map to a traceable bank movement. Setting up the payment infrastructure correctly is therefore part of the process itself, as explained in our guide on setting up a company and opening a bank account abroad.

KOSGEB Foreign Market Support Programme

While the Ministry of Trade schemes address export-driven and larger-scale items, KOSGEB's Foreign Market Support Programme targets the first-step costs of small and medium-sized enterprises. The programme ceiling is TRY 300,000, of which 70% is a grant and 30% is repayable. Project duration runs from 8 to 24 months.

Applicants must hold a domestic trademark registration certificate as at the application date, keep books on a balance sheet basis in the last approved financial year, and apply under at least two different expense categories. The project budget may not exceed net sales revenue for that year. The two schemes are not alternatives; used in sequence according to scale, they materially reduce the total cost of going abroad.

Branch, Subsidiary or Acquisition? Choosing the Structure

Which support a company can claim depends on the legal nature of the structure it builds abroad. That choice determines tax treatment, liability and support eligibility at the same time.

Country choice belongs in the same analysis. Manufacturers serving Europe often use the United Kingdom and the Netherlands as distribution hubs, digital service exporters lean towards Estonia, and companies targeting the Gulf and Africa favour the United Arab Emirates. For North America, company formation in the United States comes into play. A comparison of effective tax burdens can start with our review of the countries with the lowest taxes.

Most Common Application Mistakes

1. Spending first and reading the legislation afterwards. Some items require prior approval; unapproved spending cannot be brought into scope later.
2. Paying in cash or through a third party. Payments outside the banking system are rejected.
3. Missing the six-month filing deadline. This is the single most frequent ground for refusal.
4. Signing the lease with the wrong party. The contract must name the beneficiary company or its affiliated unit.
5. Failing to document the organic link. The relationship must be evidenced, not merely declared.
6. Submitting uncertified foreign documents. Files without consular or apostille certification are held up.
7. Claiming one expense under two schemes. The non-duplication rule puts the whole file at risk.

To identify the right combination of supports for your expansion plan, you can request a quote and consultancy.

Sources

• Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Trade — Decree No. 5973 on Export Supports
• Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Trade — Circular on Company and Brand Acquisition Support (8 July 2025)
• Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Trade — Support Upper Limits
• KOSGEB — Foreign Market Support Programme

Rates and amounts were verified against official sources on 26 August 2026. Because upper limits are indexed at the start of every calendar year, the Ministry's current tables should be confirmed before applying.