Ergun heralds an increase in direct foreign capital investment

Speaking at the signing ceremony of an agreement between Dow Chemical Company and Aksa Acrylic Chemistry Inc. to form a joint venture, Science, Industry and Technology Minister Nihat Ergun said yesterday that the foreign capital investment totaling 11.5 billion American dollars have been made in 2011 as from today. "We expect this figure to increase to 12.5 billion American dollars by the year-end. We also believe that direct foreign capital investment again surpassing 10 billion American dollars will be made in Turkey in 2012," Ergun said. Ergun stated that serious problems were suffered by developed countries, especially Europe, and the economic crisis had turned into another crisis with political consequences. "Therefore we could say that a great many investments will be made in Turkey in the upcoming period especially in such sectors as automotive and petrochemistry. We will also bring certain selected Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) from the US to Turkey to get together them with their equivalents. We aim to spread partnerships and cooperation between small and medium sized enterprises this way," said Ergun. Ergun said that the Dow Chemical Company, one of the largest producers in chemical industry worldwide, has been operating in Turkey since 1971, adding, "The investment amount which has been initially determined as 500 million American dollars was doubled and revised through the initiatives made by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's in the last five years. The investments made by such a world brand are very important in terms of showing the economic and social development in Turkey."