Same Things Have Been Declared in Each Plan Period
As recognized, there are no major differences between those declared as to be taken in order to increase exports in relative plan periods and those being declared still today. Even there are amazing similarities between the incentive instruments under "State Aids for Exports" being implemented today and the measures foreseen to be taken during the I. Five Year Plan Period. Another important subject that appears after the examination of the plans is that the careful attention given to make the measures to be taken in order to increase exports run in parallel with those measures to be taken for investments in the country.

Primary Export Incentives Implemented In the Planned Period
The primary export incentives implemented especially after 1980 and their brief definitions are given as follows by considering the laws they ground on:

- Tax Refund: This incentive, which grounds on the basis of refunding those direct and indirect taxes taken at the production stage of export goods, has been first implemented in 1963 under Law No. 261. The first Decree regarding its implementation is the one dated 5.12.1963 with no. 6/2453. The "Tax Refund" incentive, which was popular as the most long-term and effective incentive instrument especially in the first half of 1980s, has been repealed as of 1.1.1989 by considering its close relation to the arguments of "fictitious export" that became a major subject in public opinion after 1986.

Resource Utilization Support Fund: It has been aimed to use this fund to decrease the burden from the interests of credits used in export financing by making premium payments over realized export amounts. It is a fund constituted under the Decree dated 5.1.1984 with no. 84/8860.

Tax, Duty and Levy Exemption: This incentive has found a field of application for the first time with the award no. 85/9353 which came into effect by being published in the Official Gazette dated 13.4.1985 with no. 18724 with regard to provide tax, duty and levy exemption in every kind of transactions regarding exports.

Export with Customs Exemption: It is an instrument implemented in form of allowing the duty free import of raw materials being used in the bodily constitution of the export goods at particular rates in return for export commitment and has started being used with the Export Incentive Communique no. 85/2 published in the Official Gazette dated 31.12.1984 with no. 18622. The Inward Processing Regime presently being executed principally grounds on this system.

Sales and Deliveries Specified as Export: It is the adaptation of the incentive logic founded on basis of tax return to the domestic sales and deliveries identified as identified as bringing in foreign currency and has been implemented by leaning on the same awards taken for tax refund. However, the resource used for this incentive has been changed after 1984 whereafter the payment has been done in form of "premium payment" instead of "tax refund".

Practices after 1980
The first half of the 1980s during which our exports has been increasing contrary to the world conjuncture had the characteristic of being a positively active period in terms of economic development because the economic policies being implemented were without alternative and also because of the characteristic of the said period (legislation and enforcement thereof was being made very fast). Yet before 1985 came, almost whole country was provided with automatic telephone communication and the colorful television broadcast was on line. Further, the country met the highways where it turned into a live construction site. The export increases were unbelievable. What was the reason?

When examined under known economic rules, there was in fact no extra ordinary fact. Those had to be done were undertook and a groundwork was laid for revealing the potential of the country however all these were very well displayed. The word "the most expensive energy is the one that does not exist" of the prime minister of the time explicitly shows the fact that the deficiency of the country in infrastructure has been tried to removed at any price. A considerable success has been achieved in this subject which actually resulted in high costs as many people agree. It was during this period when every kind of means were tried to increase the foreign exchange reserves which are important for freshening the domestic market and ensuring the sustainability of the economic development.

When examined from the perspective of export incentives, it is seen that the most popular incentive instrument of this period has been "tax refund". This incentive has paid the cost of this popularity by being the preferred one for exploitation and thus has been the first incentive that had been repealed. As explained thereabove, this incentive being based on returning the direct and indirect taxes taken during the production stage of export goods has actually been used by returning taxes at rates higher than their actual for some products after 1980s. The 1980s has been a period when the visions of Turkish people from cheaters to honest businessmen, from country people to town people as well as their value judgments has changed.

CURRENT PRACTICES

Current Aids
Boost to export instruments currently valid in our country consist of a wide range of aids such as credits and donations. The most commonly used instrument is "Inward Processing Regime" providing exemption from customs duties. In previous years, practices similar to the tax refund system under the names of deduction system, premium payment and export refund is being in separate forms. Export credit programs of Eximbank are another commonly used instrument.

Another conspicuous subject regarding the current government aids concept shows itself in the mechanism of composing aids. While aids providing exemption and deduction are executed after the Cabinet Decision following the Supreme Planning Council Awards, donation government aids which require generally more wealth transfer can only be put into force with Money-Credit and Coordinating Committee Decisions.

Direct cash donation aid implementations are performed under Cabinet Decision no.94/6401 relating to "Government Aids for Export" and Money-Credit and Coordinating Committee communiqués issued by founding on precedingly mentioned decision and primarily consist of Agricultural Export Refunds, Industry Development Aid, R&D Aid, Fair Aid, Foreign Office-Store Aid, Environment Aid, Education Aid, Employment Aid, Market Research, Patent and Industrial Design Aid.

Evaluations
The common characteristic of these aids is that they all bear the government aid criteria foreseen by the World Trade Organization. The export increasing effects thereof is an open question. Of those except Agricultural Refunds and Industrial Development Aids, the ones regarding the direct marketing of export goods to foreign countries except "Foreign Office-Store Aid" and "Environment Aid" have the characteristic to give measurable results only in a long term and such a result has a change not to be the one being expected.

RESULTS AND SUGGESTIONS
A close relationship between investments and exports can be established in every country that implements a development model based on exports. In this respect, it is supposed that the investment incentives and any kind of credit system and program subsidized in the country should be reorganized by considering exports. And the precondition of this is the institution of a corporate synergy.

… "The third is the proof that there are no different policies and practices being implemented in other places of the government"… This expression, which points to the fact that the incentive policies should be controlled as a whole and by a single entity, has been said in 1971 by Turgut Özal who is the prime minister of the 1980s period.

The most important deficiency in the incentive policies being implemented in our country which could not yet complete its development and which accepts a development model based on exports is believed to be the breakdown after 1990 of the partially secured cooperation between the units developing the incentive policies and executing their implementations after 1980.

Many public body implements various incentives to the extent of their own authorities and responsibilities. Ministry of Tourism makes the allocation of lands and the Ministry of Finance enforces tax incentives under Law No. 4325 dated 23.03.1998 as well as the allocation of lands. Whilst Halk Bankası offers investment and business credits for SMEs, the Turkish Treasury encourages investments for the same purpose. While Eximbank implements the foreign store credit program, the Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade executes the Foreign Office Store Aid. Within the context of R&D aid which is executed by the Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade however other all technical, scientific and financial evaluations of which are done by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) and Turkish Technology Improvement Foundation, the same projects can benefit from a donation aid of %50 and a credit support of %50. Different practice adjustments for the same purposes limit the efficiency and measurability of incentives. Experiences gained to date from legislation consistency studies being carried on under Customs Union established with EU as well as from legal actions on antidumping and anti subvention started against our country by WTO, show us that such international organizations are interested in the competitive effect and amount of these incentives rather than their names and types. Thus, various practices related to government aids may put some sectors in difficult positions in the international platform.

From the first incentive practices till today, it has been observed that the basic logic of the implementations remains same however the purpose is always same which is to increase the export of industry goods with high added values. Therefore, it is believed that there is an urgent need to reorganize this basic and true observation subject at the up most efficiency with a sense focusing on the economic interests of our country or to remove the broken down organization thereof in order to increase the efficiency of incentives.

It is believed that the most effective incentive that can be instituted within the current structure is those practices which can be summarized as being related to the direct marketing of goods made in our country in overseas markets and as sharing the marketing risk and costs of the exporter. Within this context, direct participation in establishing hypermarkets that will predominantly promote Turkish goods and in costs of establishing distribution companies can be the first conceivable incentive.

Establishing a single central unit equipped with ability to assess the outcomes of government aids (export and investment) and associating all other entities and corporations making aid implementation with this unit shall enable the analysis of government aids, measurement of their outcomes and simplification of practices. At the state of play, it is obvious that there is a need for such a unit under the Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade since enhancing export ability of our country composes the basis of all aids and since there is no such an expert entity in export.

Bibliography
1. Private Specialization Commission Reports, SPO issues.
2. GATT Norms and Government Aids With Respect to International Cooperation, SPO 1995.
3. Turkish Tradesman-Artist and Small Industry Research Institute (TES-AR) No:14 issue.
4. Communiques on Incentives.
5. DTM Issues.