ISTANBUL
Türkiye’s push to boost renewables in its energy mix presents a “unique opportunity” to attract significant foreign investment, a senior official from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private sector arm, told Anadolu.
Susan Lund, the IFC vice president for economics and private sector development, will attend the meeting of the Investment Advisory Council of Türkiye on Saturday along with other high-level representatives of international institutions and companies.
The participants will discuss Türkiye’s investment climate and strategies to attract more foreign direct investment, particularly in export-oriented sectors, during the meeting, which will be chaired by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ways to cut regulatory burdens and modernize the business environment to facilitate technology transfers and foster innovation as well as how to support Türkiye’s ambitious renewable energy targets and urban infrastructure projects through private capital mobilization will also be discussed.
“The green transition offers a unique opportunity for Türkiye to attract substantial investment,” Lund said, adding that enhancing economic governance and tackling trade barriers are essential for further integrating Türkiye into global value chains.
To attract foreign direct financing, she said, Türkiye “needs a conducive macroeconomic environment and a streamlined regulatory framework that facilitates ease of doing business.”
“In recent years, large greenfield investment projects have been announced in the renewable energy sector in emerging markets around the world, totaling $336 billion in 2022 and 2023,” she explained.
Countries such as Egypt, Morocco, Chile, and India attracted significant foreign direct investment inflows in recent years, she added.
According to Lund, while Türkiye has “made great progress, further improvements in governance, institutional strengthening, and modernization of the business environment are needed.”
She added: “Türkiye’s current feed-in tariff scheme falls short in terms of international bankability standards with respect to tenor, tariff mechanisms and risk allocation between the parties, limiting investor interest.”
Economic measures to enhance engagement in key sectors
Lund also said Türkiye’s recent economic stabilization measures offer new opportunities to enhance engagement in key sectors such as manufacturing, climate initiatives, small- and medium-sized enterprise finance, and digital infrastructure.
She was referring to several measures, such as tight monetary policy and fiscal discipline, implemented by the Turkish Treasury and Finance Ministry to address high inflation and economic volatility.
Noting that Türkiye is one of the largest emerging markets that the IFC operates in, Lund said the country has a relatively young, vibrant workforce, and in many industries has world-class companies.
“It offers significant potential across various sectors, including manufacturing, electric vehicles, technology and healthcare,” she said.
On the IFC’s presence in Türkiye, as of August, she said, Türkiye represents its third-largest country exposure globally, with a committed portfolio of $5.2 billion.
This portfolio includes large investments in financial institutions to support earthquake recovery, climate initiatives, and infrastructure, including the energy sector, Lund explained.
“The IFC’s strategy is fully aligned with Türkiye’s Medium-Term Plan, focusing on improving access to finance, enhancing competitiveness and job creation in the real sector, reducing the gender gap, tackling climate through mitigation and adaptation, investing in sustainable infrastructure, and advancing exports and trade,” she said.
The IFC also plans to deepen its involvement in trade finance and export-oriented sectors, she said.
Asked about the IFC’s possible role in securing financing for Türkiye’s large-scale energy projects, Lund said, “We can partner with companies to deliver services across the project lifecycle, from origination to financial structuring to implementation and supervision.”
Saying that foreign direct investment (FDI) to Türkiye fell from $19.3 billion in 2016 to $10.6 billion in 2023, she said, “FDI as a percentage of Türkiye’s GDP has stagnated at 1-1.5%, well below other upper-middle-income peer countries like Mexico, Brazil, Peru, and Malaysia, where FDI levels are 2-3% of GDP.”
According to Lund, revitalizing Türkiye’s FDI “will require building a business environment more conducive to the private sector, which includes continuing to prioritize and sustain macroeconomic stability, while reducing regulatory burdens.”
