Turkey has received a windfall of foreign direct investment over the past four years thanks to high levels of global liquidity and a relatively rare period of domestic political and economic stability. The country has also begun to make some headway towards joining the European Union.
Between 1992 and 2002, Turkey received an average of $1bn a year in FDI, according to the Investment Support and Promotion Agency, a body established to market the country to investors. This jumped to $20bn in 2006 and $22bn in 2007. With more than $55bn accumulated in the past four years, “Turkey is now playing in the first division in the world in terms of FDI figures,” says Alpaslan Korkmaz, the agency’s president.
