Foreign capital firms in Turkey exceed 32,000

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

The retail and wholesale trade is the top sector for foreign-capital companies operating in Turkey. DAILY NEWS photo

The number of internationally capitalized companies in Turkey surpassed 30,000 at the end of 2012, with over half of these companies being European Union-based, according to figures compiled from Economy Ministry data.

There are 32,604 foreign capitalized companies and branches in Turkey, 5,494 of which are associates of Turkish companies with domestic capital.

The top sector among foreign companies operating in Turkey is wholesale and retail trade, comprising 32 percent of foreign companies. The real estate sector, at 16 percent, comes in second.

German companies top the list

Manufacturing is another sector attracting internationally capitalized companies. After the real estate sector, manufacturing comes in third place with 4,980 companies operating in the industry.

Of those foreign companies within the manufacturing sector, 553 produce chemicals, 520 produce food products and 483 produce beverages and tobacco.

The data suggests nearly half – 50.3 percent – of these companies are EU-based. Among them, Germany ranks first with 5,158 companies in Turkey, England follows with 2,446 and the Netherlands come in third with 2,105 companies.

Following the EU, countries with the most companies or branches in Turkey are Near and Middle Eastern countries, with 7,460. In this category, Iran ranks first with 2,872 companies, Azerbaijan follows with 1,190 and Iraq comes in third with 1,009.

Istanbul tops the list as the city foreign investors establish their companies in most often, hosting 18,968 among 32,604 internationally capitalized companies. Other provinces that follow Istanbul include Antalya, Ankara, İzmir, Muğla, Bursa, Mersin, Aydın, Kocaeli and Hatay.