Turkish 2007 FDI around $22 bln-finance minister
Posted by meb at February 15th, 2008
Foreign direct investment inflows into Turkey reached around $22 billion in 2007, Turkey’s Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan said in a speech on Friday. Turkey had set a $25 billion target for FDI last year, but it had long been clear that it would not reach that target.
Government officials had said previously they expected 2007′s figure to come in around $19-$20 billion. The government hopes to lure at least $20 billion foreign direct investment in 2008 to help stimulate growth and create new jobs.
“In the past, foreign direct investment to our country were $1 billion (a year). This rose to $10 billion in 2005, and $20 billion in 2006 and $22 billion in 2007,” Unakitan told a meeting with the United Arab Emirates’ visiting economy minister Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Alqassimi.
Privatisation and several acquisition deals have helped send foreign direct investment to record levels, and Ankara hopes to go ahead with an initial public offering of a 15 percent stake in fixed-line operator Turk Telekom in May and the tender process for highways and bridges. An eletricity sector privatisation and the sale of Halkbank are also being eyed. Foreign capital is crucial for helping Turkey to fund a large current account deficit that reached $38 billion in 2007.
source. Reuters via Hurriyet
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