Turkey becomes fourth country raising its R&D spending most in Europe

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BRUSSELS - Turkey has become the fourth country, raising its R&D spending the most in Europe, according to a report.

The European Commission has released its innovation union 2011 competition report, and according to the report Turkey has raised its annual R&D expenditures more than 10 percent between 2000 and 2009.
Thus, Turkey has been ranked the fourth among countries raising their R&D spending the most in Europe.

The European Commission thinks that Turkey could make a giant leap forward with its national science, technology and renovation strategy for 2011 and 2016.

The report said that although Turkey was below the EU average in new doctorate graduate and patent applications, it was relatively powerful in scientific publications.

Around 6.0 percent of scientific publications in Turkey had been among the most referred publications in the world, the report said. According to the report, Turkey allocated 0.85 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on R&D expenditures, which was below 2 percent EU average.

The European Commission expects R&D spending in Turkey to reach 1.7 percent by 2020. However, the EU is expected to raise its R&D expenditures to 2.2 percent by then.