Turkey's construction sector, which has so far undertaken many important projects abroad, has left its mark on some 650 business and shopping center projects, worth more than $28.5 billion, as reported by Anadolu Agency (AA).

According to the Turkish Contractors Association (TMB), Turkish construction companies have undertaken more than 8,830 projects worth $335 billion in 113 countries, between 1972 and 2016. Among them projects valued at $213 billion were superstructures, including private and public housing, hospitals, business centers, sociocultural facilities, military facilities, tourism facilities and stadiums.

Meanwhile, business and shopping center projects constituted nearly 8.5 percent of these projects. Turkish contractors have so far built 650 business premises and shopping centers worldwide, worth more than $28.5 billion.

The largest number of business and shopping center projects were carried out in Russia, followed by Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia and Libya.

Among the foreign projects undertaken by TMB members so far, Rönesans Holding's St. Petersburg-Lakhta Center, Ant Yapı's Capital City and Oko Tower, as part of the Moscow City project and Enka's Russia-based Metropolis Business Center are worth mentioning.

The recent negative developments in Libya, Iraq and Russia, which constituted some 35 percent of Turkey's foreign construction projects, have brought businesses in these countries to a standstill and pushed Turkish contractors to look for newer markets.

They have recently focused their attention on countries in sub-Saharan Africa whose economies, rely on oil and precious metal exports. Likewise, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sudan, Cameroon, Congo, Ghana, Mali and Senegal have all become target markets for Turkish contractors.

Investments in the construction of roads, bridges, dams, houses, schools, congress centers, hospitals, tourism facilities, natural gas and energy facilities, stand out in these countries. However, some excessive decrease in the commodity prices in the international markets has negatively affected the economies of these countries and caused some much-anticipated investment programs to be delayed.