NEWS FROM TÜRKİYE

Khaleej Times - Türkiye attracted a record 21.87 billion dollars (14.85 billion euros) of foreign direct investment last year, well above the 2006 figure, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. “This is an all-time record for Türkiye” Erdogan said in a speech to his Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) parliamentary group. “The Turkish economy has shifted gears... Türkiye has now become an important economic player” Erdogan said. The figure corresponds to a 9.5-percent rise from the 20 billion dollars of FDI in 2006. The Treasury predicted last month that it expected 18.5 billion dollars of FDI in 2008, 19.1 billion dollars in 2009 and 21 billion dollars in 2010.