Türkiye could attract an additional $13.5 billion (TL 484.48 billion) in international investment this year if macroeconomic stability and predictability increase, the head of International Investors' Association (YASED) said Wednesday.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Türkiye is likely to have amounted to $11 billion last year, association head Engin Aksoy told a news conference.
In the first 11 months of 2024, Türkiye drew $9.6 billion in foreign direct investments, Aksoy told reporters in a meeting where he reflected on Türkiye’s FDI outlook.
He noted that Türkiye aims to increase its share of global FDI to 1.5%, which corresponds to some $20 billion in the current conditions as he mentioned, this share stands at 0.8% at present.
"Most of YASED members believe that if macroeconomic stability and predictability increase, investor confidence will grow and Türkiye could attract an additional $13.5 billion in investment in 2025," Aksoy said.
Stating that a large portion of Türkiye's FDI flows in the first 11 months of 2024 came from the European Union, he said: "The highest investment in the country's shares was achieved by the Netherlands with 20%. Germany followed with 13%, the U.S. with 11% and 6% investment from the Gulf countries."
He also suggested that a better regulatory framework is necessary to attract even more investment. "If Türkiye improves its regulatory performance and risk indicators and creates a more predictable investment environment, there will be promising amounts for annual FDI inflows," Aksoy said.
Türkiye attracted $10.6 billion in foreign investments in 2023 and aims to further boost its share of global and regional FDI flows amid improving business sentiment following a shift to more conventional economic policies.
Aksoy reiterated that a change was made in March in the KVKK law, which regulates the transfer of personal data abroad, to ensure compliance with the European Union and to facilitate company operations. "With the change in June, 1,545 standard contracts were signed within the framework of the new deposit. When we compare it with 2023, our country has gained a more liberal and competitive data-sharing system, providing significant advantages to companies in a way that will facilitate trade," he added.
European countries have been major sources of investment in 2023 as well, along with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Russia and the United States.
Aksoy, who emphasized that Türkiye's place in the global data economy has been strengthened with this development, added: "As YASED, we think that this change will have an annual impact of 4 billion euros on the gross domestic product (GDP) in our analyses."
He also pointed out that companies around the world are experiencing financing problems regarding green transformation and countries' fight against climate change. "Especially the fact that U.S. President Donald Trump has announced an oil-based approach from day one and has abandoned his goal of switching to green vehicles is demotivating."
Citing the results of YASED’s Pulse survey, conducted among CEOs and 275 member firms, Aksoy said that the companies generally expect moderate growth for 2025.
Some 48% of participating companies predict that they will continue to grow in the next six months, he added.
"In fact, this positive outlook is reflected in many parameters, from export data to workforce size. While members announced that they expect Türkiye's growth to be slightly slower in 2024, our CEOs said they expect faster growth than the global economy in 2025," he noted.
