Foreign direct investment in Turkey soars by 75 pct

Turkey drew $15.9 billion in direct international investment in 2011, according to the World Investment Report issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) yesterday. The investments increased 75.7 percent when compared to 2010, said Secretary-General Ozlem Ozyigit of the International Investors Association of Turkey (YASED). YASED discloses the report in Turkey on behalf of UNCTAD every year. The amount of direct international investment in the world rose 16.5 percent and exceeded $1.5 trillion in 2011, Ozyigit said, adding that there is still some time to go before the pre-crisis level, which was $1.98 trillion in 2007, is reached again. The figure will hit $1.6 trillion this year, according to the UNCTAD forecast. Turkey's goal is to exceed $15 billion in 2012, and reach $20 billion, which was a pre-crisis figure, Ozyigit said. "We primarily wish to see Turkey first reach the $20 billion pre-crisis level [in direct international investments], and higher investment levels to be sustainable in line with Turkey's constantly increasing [economic] potential in its region and the world," Ozyigit said. Turkey's share in the total direct investments in the world increased from 0.7 percent to 1 percent in 2011, while its share in the total direct investments among 173 developing countries rose to 2 percent from 1.4 percent, Ozyigit said. Developing countries attracted more than 50 percent of the total direct international investments for the first time in 2010, a trend which continued in 2011. "This means that capital inflows will shift to developing countries and developing countries increasingly gain importance especially due to economic developments in the European Union and the United States after the economic crisis," Ozyigit said. Global direct international investments are 23 percent below their peak level of $1.98 trillion in 2007, said Akin Kozanoglu, board member at YASED. "This amount will be achieved again in 2014, according to the most optimistic scenarios," he said. Turkey took 29th place on the list of countries in terms the amount of direct international investments in 2010 and rose to 23rd place last year. Among developing countries Turkey came in 12th last year, up from 16th place the previous year. The four countries that attracted the most direct international investments in 2010 kept their places last year, according to the report. The United States took the first spot with $226.9 billion. China came second with $124 billion, followed by Belgium and Hong Kong. Italy, Indonesia, Luxembourg and Chile entered the top 20 countries in 2011.