Turkey’s vision for 2023 is to capitalise on its demographic opportunity to grow rapidly by about 7% per year for the next decade. Funding innovation as a way of boosting the local economy and exports is central to its aim to take its gross domestic product (GDP) to $2 trillion in 2023 from $820bn last year.

Hasan Pehlivan, principal adviser to Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT), which was set up in 2006 to increase…