Turkish businesses FDI outflow rises 10 times in 15 years: Index

ISTANBUL

Turkish companies’ foreign direct investment (FDI) outflow has increased by 10 times over the past 15 years, according to an index released on May 17.

Turkish businesses made a total of 85 greenfield investments abroad worth $2.8 billion in 2016, showed the Foreign Investments of Turkey Index, which was jointly prepared by the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) and Bain & Company.

Turkish companies made 52 investments worth $2.4 billion in 2015, according to the index. They also undertook 40 mergers and acquisitions (M&A) with a financial volume of $3.7 billion in 2016 after making 35 M&A transactions worth $3.5 billion in 2015. 

Over the past decade, Turkish businesses made a total of 290 M&A transactions worth $28 billion, according to the index. 

DEİK President Ömer Cihad Vardan said Turkish businesses’ FDI outflow rose by 10 times over the past 15 years, with a continuing increase trend.
 
“While we are trying to attract foreign companies into our country with the latest technologies on the one hand, we also try to advise Turkish companies to invest in the countries that will bring them the biggest profit and best yields,” Vardan said, noting that the DEİK has 135 business councils across 128 countries.

In 2016, the highest amount of investments was made in the United States in the high-income country group, China in the middle-income country group, and Azerbaijan in the low-income group. 

In the first group, the U.S. was followed by Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Sweden. In the second group of countries, Czech Republic, Russia, Bulgaria and Romania followed China, according to the index. In the last group, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Iran and Egypt constituted the top five along with Azerbaijan. 

While Turkish companies’ investments in some countries, including Russia and the U.K., saw dramatic declines in 2016, falls were also seen in Middle Eastern and Eurasian markets that were hit by the oil plunge. 

DEİK Foreign Investments Business Council President and Bain & Company Partner Volkan Kara said Turkish companies made the highest amount of foreign direct investments in the manufacturing, tourism, energy, food and retail sectors in 2016, adding that the FDI outflow into Balkan countries and other neighboring regions were on a visible rise. 

In 2014 and 2015, Turkish companies mainly preferred to make investments in both ways mainly in high-income countries, including Germany, the United States, Russia, Britain and Spain, according to last year’s report.