Turkey ranks second in infrastructure investments after Brazil: World Bank

WASHINGTON

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Turkey ranked second after Brazil in making the highest commitments for total infrastructure investments among 139 emerging countries in 2014, according to data from the World Bank. Peru, Colombia and India followed in third, fourth and fifth, respectively. 

Total infrastructure investments in 139 emerging economies for projects with private participation in the energy, transport and water sectors rose to $107.5 billion in 2014, driven largely by increasing activity in Brazil, said the World Bank in a written statement on its update of the “Private Participation in Infrastructure” (PPI) database on June 9.  

“Our update data reveals that the top five countries with the highest investment commitments in 2014 are Brazil, Turkey, Peru, Colombia and India,” said Clive Harris, Practice Manager, Public-Private Partnerships, World Bank Group. 

“These five countries together attracted $78 billion, representing 73 percent of the investment commitments in the developing world in 2014,” he added. 

With 17 new projects, Turkey was able to secure the second highest investment volume, according to the report. 

“Significant government reform in 2008 continued to influence energy investment in Turkey, as three large-scale privatizations took place: The $4.3 billion Kemerköy and Yeniköy Thermal Power Plants; the $1.1 billion Yatağan Thermal Power Plant; and the $350 million Çatalağzı Thermal Power Plant. In addition, a pair of transport projects, the $1.1 billion Salıpazarı Cruise Port and the $2.9 billion Third Bosporus Bridge and Northern Marmara Highway Project further boosted Turkish investment,” added the report. 

Energy, infrastructure projects top list 

The data, covering the period from 1990 to 2014, reviewed more than 6,000 projects across 139 low- and middle-income economies across the globe, providing a rich source of data on private infrastructure investment in emerging markets. 

“The increase in the global investment commitments total is mainly due to increasing activity in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region, which captured $69.1 billion, much of which is attributable to investment commitments in Brazil, Colombia and Peru, which together accounted for 55 percent of the global total,” added the statement. 

Regionally, the LAC region led the other regions, followed by Europe and Central Asia (ECA), East Asia and the Pacific (EAP), South Asia (SAR), and the Middle East and North Africa (MNA). Sub-Saharan Africa (AFR) experienced the lowest amount of investment. 

The MNA region, which had a much smaller commitments total of $3.3 billion, also saw increases compared to the previous year, according to the report. 

The energy sector had the largest number of new projects, but the sector with the greatest total of investment commitments was the transport sector, receiving $55.3 billion, or 51 percent of total global investment commitments. 

Consistent with the trend in previous years, roads attracted the most investment commitments with $28.5 billion in 33 projects, about the same number as in 2013. Four out of the top five road projects were in Brazil, with the fifth-largest project in Turkey. Airports captured the second highest investment commitments total with $13.2 billion devoted to five projects.