Setting up in Antalya: free zone, organised industrial zone and investment incentives

In short

• Ordinary premises (an office or workshop anywhere in the province): no special regime. The company is registered, like any other, at the trade registry office (Ticaret Sicili Müdürlüğü) with jurisdiction over the place of its head office (within Antalya province, Alanya, Manavgat and Kumluca, for example, have separate registry offices).
• Antalya Free Zone (serbest bölge): a customs and tax regime under Law No. 3218. Foreign and Turkish persons can operate there with an activity licence. Some income and corporate tax advantages exist, but they are tied to production and to sales abroad or within the free zones.
• Antalya Organised Industrial Zone (organize sanayi bölgesi, OSB): an industrial park governed by Law No. 4562. Land is allocated by the OSB administration, and some tax advantages follow from the location.

On top of the location, an investment incentive certificate (yatırım teşvik belgesi) under Presidential Decision No. 9903 can apply to qualifying investments anywhere in the province. The certificate does not by itself give an unconditional right to cash. Besides customs duty and VAT exemptions and similar tax and social security advantages, depending on the scheme applied it can also bring interest or profit-share support and, for suitable investments, machinery support.

All of these apply in the same way to foreign and Turkish investors. A foreign owner does not need a special status to use them. The tax effect of each option should be confirmed with a Turkish certified public accountant (mali müşavir) before a location is chosen. The general company set-up process is covered in the main guide to setting up a company in Türkiye.

How many foreign-owned companies are there in Antalya?

Two sets of figures are available, from different dates and sources:

By the origin of the foreign partner, the largest groups at the end of 2024 were Russia (1,217 companies), Germany (765) and Iran (675). By sector, wholesale and retail food (8.1%), real estate (7.4%) and construction (7.4%) led.

The two stock figures differ slightly because they come from different counts and dates.

Which sectors attract foreign companies in Antalya?

Antalya is Türkiye's main tourism province, and much of the foreign-owned business activity follows from that: hotels and hospitality services, real estate, construction and the supply of food and goods to the tourism sector. The ATSO figures above reflect this. Greenhouse agriculture and food export, energy and information technology are also commonly named as growth sectors.

The sector matters legally: OSB land is for industrial production, and free zone and incentive advantages depend on the type of activity.

Can a foreign company operate in the Antalya Free Zone?

Yes. Law No. 3218 on Free Zones (Art. 5) allows Turkish and foreign natural and legal persons to carry out activities in free zones after obtaining an activity licence (faaliyet ruhsatı) from the Ministry of Trade. No Turkish partner is required. The Law's stated purposes include speeding up foreign direct investment (Art. 1).

Who runs the zone. The Antalya Free Zone is managed by an operator (işletici), ASBAŞ. The operator allocates space, and the free zone directorate (bölge müdürlüğü), a Ministry of Trade body, supervises licences, permits and the use of land. A company applies for its licence through this system.

Customs. Under Article 6 of Law No. 3218, free zones are parts of the Turkish customs territory. Under the conditions set by the Law, however, they are treated as outside it for import duties, trade policy measures and foreign exchange rules. Non-free-circulation goods may be placed in the zone without a customs regime, provided they are not used or consumed except in the cases the customs legislation allows. Taking goods out to other parts of Türkiye requires the relevant customs procedures.

Staff. Foreign managers and qualified staff may be employed in free zone workplaces (Art. 10). For work and residence permits in general, see Foreign managers in a Turkish company.

Tax. Free zones are often described as "tax-free", which is too broad today. The statute (Provisional Art. 3) provides two separate exemptions from income and corporate tax. The first covers the gains of manufacturing users in the zone from selling what they make abroad, within the free zone or to other free zones; it is tied to production and does not apply in the same way to a company that only trades or stores goods. The second is a separate services exemption: service businesses working in the fields the Law lists (maintenance, repair, assembly, disassembly, handling, sorting, packaging, labelling, testing and storage) that provide the whole service to persons not resident in Türkiye are exempt on those gains, provided the goods concerned are sent to a foreign country without entering Türkiye in any way. Serving non-residents alone is not enough. The rules have been amended several times in recent years, and commentary on the latest changes is inconsistent. The current scope, and its effect on a particular structure, is a question for a Turkish accountant.

Local data. Press reports give the Antalya Free Zone a trade volume of USD 598.6 million in the first half of 2026 (up about 9%), with 7,109 people employed.

What does the Antalya Organised Industrial Zone offer?

An organised industrial zone is an industrial park with shared infrastructure, set up under Law No. 4562. It is managed by its own legal entity and is intended for manufacturing. The Antalya OSB is the main industrial park in the city.

What is fixed by statute. The following advantages come from the legislation itself:

• Permits from one place. Land-use, construction and workplace-opening permits and licences within the zone are issued and supervised by the OSB administration, not by the municipality (Law No. 4562).
• Property tax. Buildings located in OSBs are permanently exempt from building tax (bina vergisi, part of what is commonly called emlak vergisi), on the condition that they are not leased out (Property Tax Law No. 1319, Art. 4(1)(m)). This is separate from the five-year temporary exemption for buildings built under an investment incentive certificate (Art. 5).
• VAT. Sales of plots and workplaces by the economic enterprises formed to set up OSBs are VAT-exempt (VAT Law No. 3065, Art. 17/4-k). Goods and services supplied to an OSB for infrastructure such as water, sewage, treatment and energy are also exempt (Art. 13/j).
• Taxes and fees of the OSB itself. The OSB legal entity is exempt from taxes, duties and fees in transactions under Law No. 4562 (Art. 21). This benefits the OSB, not each participating company.

Social security support. Under Decision No. 9903 (see below), an investment located in an OSB is treated, for the employer share of social security premium support, as if it were in a more favourable sub-region.

Land. Plots are allocated by the OSB administration. Press and local sources suggest that the existing Antalya OSB is largely occupied, with expansion areas being developed. Availability, price and conditions must be asked of the OSB administration directly.

Is there an investment incentive certificate for foreign investors?

Yes, and the rules are the same as for Turkish investors. Presidential Decision No. 9903 on State Aid for Investments was published in the Official Gazette (Resmî Gazete) on 30 May 2025 (issue 32915). It replaced the earlier Decision No. 2012/3305. A company applies to the Ministry of Industry and Technology for an incentive certificate before or at the start of the investment.

Support elements. Depending on the scheme, the Decision provides:

• customs duty exemption on imported machinery and equipment;
• VAT exemption on machinery and equipment;
• tax reduction (a reduced corporate income tax burden on income from the investment);
• interest or profit-share support, in some schemes;
• machinery support for suitable investments (depending on the scheme and its conditions);
• allocation of public land for the investment, in some schemes;
• support for the employer's share of social security premiums, depending on region.

Not an unconditional cash grant. The certificate does not by itself give an unconditional right to a cash payment. The advantages consist mainly of exemptions, tax reductions and premium support; depending on the scheme applied, interest or profit-share support and machinery support for suitable investments may also be available. These are not an upfront grant: they depend on conditions, are used over time and are linked to the investment actually made.

Antalya's region. The Decision divides provinces into six regions. Antalya is in the first region (Annex 2 to the Decision), the most developed, where the regional support is lowest.

Minimum investment. Where no other minimum applies, the Decision requires a fixed investment of TL 12 million in the first and second regions and TL 6 million in the other regions (Art. 5(2)). Art. 5(10) provides for annual updating, so the amount in force today is higher. The current figure should be taken from the Ministry of Industry and Technology's announcement for the year.

BAKA and the Antalya Investment Support Office

The West Mediterranean Development Agency (BAKA) covers Antalya, Burdur and Isparta. Its Antalya Investment Support Office (Yatırım Destek Ofisi) gives investors information on public support and procedures. BAKA does not decide who receives an incentive certificate. Contact details are on the BAKA website.

Tax and legal limits of this article

This article describes the legal framework. It does not give tax advice. Whether the free zone, the OSB or a certificate is worthwhile depends on the group's structure, the sector, the investment amount and the tax rules of the home country. A Turkish certified public accountant or tax adviser should model the tax effect before the choice is made. A lawyer in Türkiye can then advise on the licence or allocation contract, the lease or purchase of premises and the employment documents. Yearly duties after set-up are covered in Running a foreign-owned company in Türkiye.