International companies to increase in Turkey

The number of companies with international capital in Turkey increased eightfold in the past decade, the economy minister said on Friday.According to data from Turkey’s Ministry of the Economy, the figure reached 36,950 in 2013 from just 4,303 in 2003. Out of the total number of foreign-funded companies, 5,651 were funded from Germany, 2,635 from UK-funded, and 2,286 were financed by the Netherlands.The Ministry also said 21,973 of the companies operate out of Istanbul, with 8,383 in the wholesale and retail market, 3,495 in real estate, and 3,163 in manufacturing.A Turkish state agency that promotes foreign investments predicts that the country will keep attracting foreign direct investments (FDI) in 2014, specifically in the fields of energy, banking-insurance, finance and the automotive industry.Turkey has also started to focus on investors from other countries. Some measures including a revamp of the tax regime in order to make Turkey more appealing for investment fund management along with giving incentives to foreign companies to start greenfield projects in less developed areas such as the east and southeast of Turkey.Separately, Turkey received international direct investment of US$12.6 billion in 2013, a decrease of 4.1 percent, compared with the previous year.According to data by Turkey's Economy Ministry, the country has received a capital inflow worth US$10.1 billion in 2013 with the energy sector emerging as the largest recipient of international capital with US$2.55 billion.The data shows that 2,960 foreign-funded new companies were established in 2013, down from the 3,703 companies registered in 2012.