Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Turkey exceeded $2.2 billion in the first nine months of 2004, Economy Minister Ali Babacan said on Tuesday. "We will see a record year this year," Babacan told reporters during a visit to Toyota Motor Corp's automobile plant at Adapazari near Istanbul.
Turkish FDI inflows since the 1980s have averaged less than $1 billion a year, far less than the ex-communist countries of central Europe. The Foreign Capital Association (YASED) says direct inflows slipped in 2003 to $586 million from $1.04 billion the previous year.
YASED says FDI is expected to touch $2.5 billion by the end of 2004 and to rise to as much as $5 billion in 2005.
Turkey sorely needs more FDI as it struggles to plug a gaping current account deficit, now projected to total $14.387 billion or 4.9 percent of gross national product in 2004.
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