ISTANBUL
Turkey's success in attracting Foreign Direct Investment should be an inspiration for other countries, a senior Turkish official has said.
Ilker Ayci, who is chairman of the board of Turkish Airlines, made the remarks in an interview with The Anadolu Agency Monday. Ayci is also president of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies, or WAIPA, as well as the head of Turkey's Prime Ministry Investment Support and Promotion Agency.
About Turkey’s success in attracting Foreign Direct Investment and how other countries could emulate its success, he said: "Each country must elaborate its own strategy based on its particular needs and conditions.” He added that organizations such as WAIPA helped other countries share their experiences.
Ayci noted that the Turkish experience showed a substantial increase in attractiveness for investment.
Foreign Direct Investment was only about $1 billion per year until the end of 2002, but, between 2002 and 2012, the country took in $130 billion in such investments. In 2014, there were about $12 billion in inflows.
For Ayci, government support for investment programs had been a key factor in Turkish success.
"The active role taken by the ministries of finance and development has been critical in our work," Ayci said. Part of that had been support for making Istanbul the headquarters of WAIPA, and making that a part of the Istanbul Financial Center plan.
“There is no doubt that the relocation of WAIPA's headquarters to Istanbul will set an example for other organizations," he said.
Outflows from developing countries now constitute about one-third of total Foreign Direct Investment, he pointed out. "The Istanbul Financial Center can play an important role in bringing investors from emerging markets together with financial expertise," he added.
The World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies is registered as a nongovernmental organization in Geneva. According to WAIPA website, its membership is open to all entities, the primary function of which is “to promote any country, political sub-division of a country or other uncontested territory, as a destination for, or source of, investments.”
