As one of the few countries having overcome the global financial crisis without any major damage, Turkey has started to attract foreign direct investment again. Alpaslan Korkmaz, president of the Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT), has said a number of investors from around the world are planning to invest in Turkey in the near future.

A transformation in foreign investments started to take place back in November and December of last year, Korkmaz told the Anatolia news agency yesterday, but stressed that this year saw a significant rise in the number of businesses wanting to invest in the country. “The projects that were suspended one year before are high on the agenda again. The return of foreign investors to the market will be noticed mainly by the second half of this year and the first half of 2011,” said Korkmaz. Last year Turkey managed to attract foreign direct investment worth $7.6 billion. This figure is expected to increase gradually in the coming months, according to him, as foreign investors’ visits to the country are on the rise. Heads of several countries’ sovereign wealth funds are willing to visit Turkey, Korkmaz said, noting that “Turkey is back on investment radars again” and that more funds will be sent to Turkey in the coming period.

According to data from ISPAT, the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) is one of the firms interested in investing in Turkey. As the holder of a 40 percent stake in the Turkish Bank Group, the NBK plans to acquire one more bank in Turkey. The bank is currently considering buying Tekstilbank or Anadolubank. The NBK is Kuwait’s largest bank and is one of the top five banks in the Middle East.

Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), the owner of Cevahir Mall in Mecidiyeköy, also has investment projects in the country, ISPAT data revealed. Accordingly, KIA has a special interest in the health and tourism sectors and is considering participating in the Health Ministry’s “Cities of Health” project. The authority also plans to build hotels in major tourism provinces, including ?stanbul and Antalya. KIA’s investments in Turkey have reached $1 billion so far.

Another leading Kuwaiti investment group, Alshaya Group, also has projects to increase their investments in Turkey by diversifying the sectors they operate in. Recently Mohammad Alshaya, CEO of the group, said, “Investing in Turkey is much better than even investing in the US and Japan.”

Kuwait Finance House, owner of a 60 percent stake in Kuveyt Türk Participation Bank, also wants to invest in important projects in the real estate sector.

Turkey is attracting investments from automotive manufacturers as well. Chinese automotive manufacturer Chery will build a plant in the country, in cooperation with Turkey’s Mermerciler Group, while China’s Geely also has joint investment projects with the Anadolu Group. The world’s leading truck and other commercial vehicle manufacturers, including JAC and China Truck, recently had talks with Turkish officials concerning investing in the country.

Japan’s Toshiba Corporation is preparing to expand into the Turkish energy sector by investing in nuclear energy. Leading Indian hotel chain Oberoi will also enter the Turkish market with a large hotel to be constructed in ?stanbul. The company’s operations in Turkey will be extended with more hotels planned in ?zmir, Antalya and Ankara, for which sites have been already found.

India’s software giant Wipro is also expected to start operations in Turkey by establishing an information technology center in the country.
Source: Today’s Zaman