Türkiye is preparing to establish a new facility for the domestic production of AI-assisted ultrasound systems. Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu said on October 20, 2026, that a Turkish delegation visited Samsung Medison during official talks in South Korea and discussed a production facility to be built in Türkiye. According to the minister, the project is targeting a domestic-content rate of at least 71 percent.
From technology transfer to a manufacturing facility
Memişoğlu said the technology-transfer process for ultrasound equipment began last year and had now reached a more advanced stage toward production in Türkiye. During the South Korea visit, the delegation reviewed AI-assisted ultrasound systems and manufacturing processes connected to the ongoing cooperation.
The plan is intended to cover more than final assembly. The minister said the proposed facility would produce components ranging from monitors and probes to software and hardware. The minimum 71 percent domestic-content target was presented as a central measure of the project. However, officials have not yet published the methodology that will be used to calculate that ratio, the components that will be made locally in the first phase or the structure of the supply chain.
Location, timetable and investment value remain undisclosed
The announcement did not specify where the factory will be located, how much will be invested, how many systems it will be able to produce, how many people it may employ or when serial production could begin. The ownership and operating model has also not been disclosed, and neither has Samsung Medison's precise technical or commercial role in the planned facility. The news should therefore be understood as a formal manufacturing objective following a technology-transfer phase, not as confirmation that a completed plant has started production.
Samsung Medison says in its corporate profile that it was founded in 1985 and is South Korea's largest manufacturer of diagnostic ultrasound systems. The company describes work that combines image processing, semiconductor and communications technologies in medical devices, including AI-supported diagnostic tools. That background helps explain why the Turkish project is being framed around both medical imaging hardware and software-driven capabilities.
A broader health-technology manufacturing goal
Ultrasound is a core imaging technology used across radiology, obstetrics and gynecology, cardiology, emergency medicine and other clinical fields. If the domestic production plan moves forward, its impact will depend not only on the number of machines made but also on maintenance capacity, spare-parts availability, software updates, training and the development of specialist technical staff. The ministry has not yet said how the project could affect hospital procurement, equipment prices or Türkiye's existing installed base.
Memişoğlu described the plan as part of the Health Ministry's “Productive Health” vision, which seeks to strengthen domestic development and manufacturing in the sector. Reporting by Anadolu Agency, TRT Haber and the specialist health outlet Medimagazin consistently reflects the minister's core claims: a facility is planned in Türkiye, the project follows an earlier technology-transfer step, and the target is at least 71 percent domestic content.
The next milestones will be the release of a site and timetable, clarification of the investment and partnership model, publication of the accounting framework behind the 71 percent target, and a schedule for certification and serial production. Until those details are available, the project remains a stated industrial objective rather than an operational manufacturing program.
