Turkey's Istanbul suffers foreign investment decline in 2012

Foreign investment in Istanbul suffered a 17.5 percent decline in 2012, according to figures from Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO).

Murat Yalcintas, chairman of ITO, said the total number of foreign investors decreased by 2 percent to 4,539 investors who have established businesses amounting to around 1.5 billion Turkish liras (850 million U.S. dollars) in 2012, decreased by 17. 5 percent from 2011.

Despite the fall in investment, Yalcintas said last year's foreign investment inflow to Istanbul still marks the second highest amount in seven years. Continuing risks in global economies spur foreign investors to invest in Turkey, he added.

Among foreign investors in Istanbul, Iranians posted an impressive growth of 30 percent in the number of investors, as well as an increase of around 8 percent in capital inflow.

Figures show that 1,335 Iranian investors established businesses in Istanbul, approximately 125 million liras (71 million dollars) of investment in 2012.

According to ITO, Istanbul's top two investors in 2012 are from Lebanon and Luxemburg, with 534 million liras (303 million dollars) and 235 billion liras (134 million dollars), respectively; followed by Iran and Germany, with 125 million liras (71 million dollars) and 65 million liras (40 million dollars) respectively.

The sector in Istanbul that attracted the most foreign investment in 2012 was the banking and insurance sector.