Istanbul capital of foreign investment
ISTANBUL-Hürriyet Daily News
This photo shows Istanbul’s financial center in Levent. Foreigners invested the most in the banking sector in 2011. HDN photo
Foreign investment in Istanbul increased by 110.77 percent in 2011 from a year earlier, according to a study released by the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (İTO). At the same time, the total number of foreign investors increased by 52.4 percent.Over the course of 2011, 4,693 foreign investors set up businesses in Istanbul, amounting to roughly 1.7 billion Turkish Liras of investment. The number was up from 3,044 foreign investors who invested 823 million liras in Istanbul in 2010.
“The value of foreign investment in 2011 was more than the total foreign investment in the three-year period from 2008 to 2011,” said İTO President Murat Yalçıntaş, noting the impressive increase.
“The rise in global economic risk forced foreign investors to look toward countries with solid macroeconomic fundamentals. Turkey, with its strong and consistent economy, has captured investor attention and, of course, Istanbul has got the lion’s share of the interest,” said Yalçıntaş, adding that the credit agencies’ positive view of Turkey had also ignited foreign investment.
In 2011 the sector that attracted the most foreign investment was the banking and insurance sector, according to the İTO’s findings.
Some 81 foreign investors invested approximately 916 million liras in the sector. The chemical/plastics and transportation sectors followed. In 2010 foreign investors invested the most in the electronics sector.
Meanwhile, the four countries that invested the most in Istanbul in 2011 were France, Iran, Germany and Scotland.
Austrians look to invest in Turkey
Austrian investors are shifting their investment activities to Turkey – especially the energy sector – because of the economic crisis in Europe, Austria’s commercial counselor for Turkey has said.“Turkey’s economic performance and stance show that the country has chosen the right path. This in turn strengthens the relations between our countries and Austrian investors are aware of this,” Konstantin Bekos said.
In addition to the energy sector, Bekos said Austrian investors were also interested in agriculture, animal husbandry, security technology and winter tourism in Turkey.
Many Austrian firms are investing in spare parts in Turkey’s automotive sector and were therefore closely eyeing developments regarding the Turkish government’s plan to create a domestic Turkish automobile, he said.
“We are ready to collaborate on the domestic automobile. If we are successful, we can create new avenues of business and support the creation of new sectors,” Bekos said.
ANKARA – Anatolia News Agency
