Turkey ranks 22nd most popular spot for foreign direct investors: Association

ISTANBUL

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Turkey was $12.1 billion in 2014, making the country the 22nd most popular spot for investors in the world, while the country is expected take in another $12 billion this year, said Ahmet Erdem, head of the International Investors Association (YASED), in a joint meeting with the United Nation’s Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on June 24.

According to the UNCTAD 2015 Global Investment Report, Turkey took a share of around 1 percent in global investment.

“We expect Turkey will continue to maintain its 1 percent share of global investment with around $12 billion of FDI inflow in 2015,” Erdem said.

He noted the association members strongly believed Turkey could resolve any problems with the rule of law, tax system, educational system and employment policies in the country through common sense and cooperation to attract more FDI.

The UNCTAD report showed global FDI flow decreased to $1.23 trillion in 2014, a 16 percent decrease from the previous year.

Erdem said several fragilities in the global economy, political uncertainties and increasing geopolitical risks played a big role in the decreasing trend in the FDI flow across the world.
Turkey ranked 22nd in the world, 12th among emerging countries and first in the Western Asia region.

Emerging markets main recipients

The emerging world’s share in global investments was 55 percent last year, although these countries lured 28 percent lower FDI in 2014 than they did in the previous year. Almost half of the top 10 FDI attracting countries were from the emerging world, according to the report.

“China became the largest FDI recipient in 2014 for the first time with more than $129 billion in total. China was followed by Hong Kong with $103 billion and the United States with $92 billion,” said YASED Secretary General Özlem Özyiğit.

Companies from the emerging world made more than $468 billion worth of investments abroad, hitting an all-time record.

The UNCTAD has expected a gradual increase in the world’s FDI flow in the next three years. According to the report, the global FDI flow will hit $1.4 trillion in 2015, $1.5 trillion in 2016 and $1.7 trillion in 2017.

UNCTAD Trend and Data Director Astrit Sulstarova said the latest report revealed many countries have showed progress in liberalizing their investment policies, promoting investment and easing FDI inflow procedures.

“The report also showed a strong need for many countries to revise their international investment agreements,” he noted.