International net direct investments in Turkey totaled $8.6 billion in the first eight months of 2014, a 9.8 percent increase from the same period of the previous year, the Turkish Economy Ministry announced.
The manufacturing sector benefited most from foreign direct investments, at $2.1 billion, followed by the financial sector at $1.18 billion. The ministry data showed that 63 percent of the capital, almost $3.8 billion, came from the European Union. The data also showed that 2,801 foreign-funded new companies were established in the first eight months of the year, up from the 2,313 firms registered in the same period last year, good for an increase of 21.1 percent. As of August 2014, a total of 40,506 companies were operating in Turkey with international capital, 24,136 of them in Istanbul, the ministry said. Antalya followed Istanbul with 4,313 companies. Some 5,949 companies are German-funded and 2,736 have British funding. “Foreign capital inflow is of great importance for Turkey as the country’s savings ratio is not sufficient to fuel its 5 percent growth target,” Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said ”We want to grow more through foreign direct investments to our country to achieve sustainable, predictable and stable growth,” Zeybekci said at the “Regional Hub for Sustainable Competitiveness: Turkey” conference of the International Investors Association of Turkey (YASED) in Istanbul, vowing to do “whatever it takes” to attract more FDI to Turkey. “We know how low our savings are, at around 16 percent of our GDP. This amount is not enough for us to maintain an average yearly growth of 5 percent. More FDI flow is therefore of great importance for us,” he added.
