Turkey attracted some $3.1 billion in net foreign direct investment (FDI) from January to April, a 22 percent decline year-on-year, the Economy Ministry announced on Thursday, according to the Hürriyet Daily News.
The bulk of the investment originated in the European Union, accounting for 63.4 percent of the whole.
In the first four months of 2018, net FDI recorded a 21.9 percent yearly decline from some $3.9 billion in the same period of 2017, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
According to official data, Turkey saw $609 million in FDI in January, $467 million in February, more than $1 billion in March and $863 million in April.
As the leading item in the overseas direct investment account, equity investment direct inflow to Turkey was around $1.7 billion.
Austria ($316 million), the Netherlands ($229 million) and the UK ($94 million) were the top three European sources of direct capital inflow in the four-month period.
“In the January-April period of this year, $638 million of the total equity capital entry was in the energy sector,” the ministry stated.
The energy sector was followed by manufacturing with $371 million and the financial intermediary sector with $161 million.
A total of 2,344 new foreign-backed firms including 18 branch offices were established in Turkey, while another 34 local companies benefited from international participation over the same period.
Some 61,500 companies with overseas capital were operating in Turkey as of April, 37.2 percent of them linked to the EU.
Official reports show that over 23,500 of these companies are involved in the retail and wholesale sectors, followed by real estate rental and business activities (9,980 businesses) and manufacturing (7,210 firms).
The Economy Ministry noted that 108 incentive certificates for investment projects of international investors were issued in the four-month period.
According to official figures, the investment value of these certified projects – part of FDI legislation and the incentives framework — amounted to $6.5 billion from January through April.
Last year, Turkey attracted $10.9 billion in FDI, nearly $7.5 billion of which was equity investment inflow, and the Economy Ministry issued 339 incentive certificates for projects valued at $25.6 billion.