How A Foreign Investor Can Start A Company In Turkey

Posted on Apr 8 2014 - 8:39am by Kristen Powell

Turkey

Turkey is a very attractive country for foreign investors due to the incentives offered by the authorities to entrepreneurs who choose to start a company in the special investment zones. So, our tip for foreigners looking for low costs and great benefits opportunities in Turkey is to open a firm in one of these zones: for technology development, industrial and free ones. The steps for starting a business in Turkey are the following:

1. Choose the company type

Firstly, the foreign businessman has to choose the type of the company he wants to open, according to the type of business he will run. For small and medium businesses, the limited liability company is the proper type, while for large businesses is more suitable a joint stock company. Other types of firms that can be started in Turkey are: comandite, collective companies or commercial partnerships. No matter which type of company you will choose, the registration procedure will last no more than two weeks.

2. Prepare the documents and the minimum capital share

For the simplest type of company in Turkey – the limited liability company – you need a minimum capital share of 10,000 TRY and for a joint stock company, the amount is five times bigger. If the foreign investor can’t go in person in Turkey in order to take care of whole procedure of incorporation, he can give the power of attorney to a person he trusts and who will register the new company. Another alternative is to contact a local lawyer or specialist in company formation who will incorporate the company and offer assistance throughout the whole procedure. The specialist will tell you what documents you need for the registration procedure and he will submit all the necessary acts to the Turkish authorities.

3. Go to a public notary

Articles of association are very important for the incorporation and, together with the signature declaration of the managers and the commercial books of the new company, must be notarized. The minimum share capital will be deposited at a bank and 0.04% from the capital will be paid at the Competition Authority.

4. …and the Trade Register

The businessmen or the representative of him will go then to the Trade Register and submit the documents for the registration. The next step is the registration at the Turkish Tax Office and Social Security Administration.

5. Hire the personnel

After the registration procedure is finished and the new company is ready for business, the investor should hire personnel. He can choose local employees among the Turkish workforce (26 million people) or foreign citizens who need a work permit before starting to work in Turkey. The obtaining of the work permit may last a month for foreign citizens who have no residence permit.

About the Author

Kristen Powell is a representative of Bridgewest, a European company formation, specialized in offering incorporation services all around Europe.