Syrians top investors in Turkish start-ups

ANKARA

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Syrians led foreign investment in start-ups in Turkey last year, with the number of Syrian company-partnered companies established in 2013 totaling 489, data obtained by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) has shown.

According to the TOBB data, more than 49,000 companies have started up in Turkey within the past year, 3,875 of which are foreign-partnered.

Some 489, over 10 percent, of foreign-partnered companies were founded directly by Syrians or with their partnership.

Germans followed their Syrian counterparts, investing in 394 newly-established firms in Turkey, while Iran-based firms ranked third with 280 start-up investments.

More than a third of the foreign-partnered start-ups are operating in the wholesale and retail trade business. Motor vehicle maintenance ranked second with 571 firms, while the construction sector came third with 417 companies, the TOBB data also showed.

More than 76 percent the companies’ capital came from foreign partners.

Overall, a total of 49,028 companies were established in Turkey in 2013, marking a 26 percent rise from the previous year.

The TOBB figures also revealed 15,538 companies were shut-down in the country, 9 percent higher than the 2012 figure.