Erdoğan: Foreign investment to reach $30 billion this year
Posted by meb at April 14th, 2007
Turkey has become an attractive center for foreign investors over the last five years and has enjoyed increasing amounts of investments each year, thanks to the political and economic stability that has been enjoyed in the country recently, after the two big economic crises during the last decade hit the country deeply.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Friday that the country is keeping its unprecedented pace in drawing foreign direct investment (FDI) and it will reach new record levels, an estimated $30 billion at the end of 2007. State Minister for the Economy and Turkey’s chief negotiator with the EU Ali Babacan announced the latest economics figures last week, noting that FDI had reached $12 billion by the end of March. Erdoğan said the amount has now passed $13 billion and the sale of Antalya Airport means the amount will only increase.
The Fraport-AG-İçtaş joint initiative won the tender on Thursday to lease Turkey’s second-busiest airport for 17 years and 107 days, by bidding 2.37 billion euros.
Turkey had been only been able to draw less than $1 billion in FDI annually before 2000. In 2001 foreign investors brought $3.35 billion to Turkey, whereas the following year the amount decreased to $1.14 billion, largely thanks to the spoiled trust in the country’s economy after the economic crisis. However FDI has rebounded since then. FDI rates over the last four years were: $1.75 billion in 2003, $2.84 billion in 2004, $9.65 billion in 2005 and $19.2 billion in 2006. However these numbers still mean that Turkey is only beginning to realize the value of privatization. According to the latest figures released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) the global level amount of FDI was $1.23 trillion last year with only $430 billion going to emerging markets. Turkey’s share in global capital inflows therefore represents only 1.5 percent of global investment.
Erdoğan was speaking at a symposium organized to celebrate 10th anniversary of the Competition Board’s foundation. “The state is no longer a merchant,” said Erdoğan, emphasizing the recent steps taken to privatize state’s major economic enterprises such as Telekom, Petkim, etc. The economy is growing thanks to open, transparent, stable and trustworthy policies, claimed Erdoğan. “The state is now just providing inspiration. It is regulating and supervising. The state is no more within the circle of competition.”
The economy has experienced healthy growth recently, and GDP has risen by 7.6 percent on average in the last 4.5 years, said Erdoğan. The growth was only 2 percent on average between 1993 and 2002, he added. “Turkey’s growth is not an illusion. We are now in a strong, healthy and stable growth trend, at the center of which is the private sector. The potential of Turkey, always mentioned but never discovered, has been realized at the highest level for the last few years.” Erdoğan claimed that Turkey’s real need in past years was to make both the public and the state face in the same direction and target the same objectives. “And now this dream has come true,” Erdoğan added.
Industry and Trade Minister Ali Coşkun also gave a speech at the ceremony. He said that the Turkish economy has gained a lot since the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) came to power and that the mobilization of investment, production and exports is still going on at the fastest pace. “Turkey has become an island of peace in a region which extends from the Balkans to the Caucasus region and the Middle East,” Coşkun said.
source: Today’s Zaman
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