Invest News DetailIstiklal - The global financial crisis has boosted the importance of economic relations between Türkiye and the Arab countries. Alpaslan Korkmaz, President of the Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Türkiye (ISPAT), said in his address to the businessmen from the Gulf countries at the Turkish-Arab Forum held in Istanbul: "We advise you to take a safe break in Türkiye instead of going directly to Europe via Türkiye, and to consider investment opportunities in Türkiye." Korkmaz said the amount of total foreign direct investment in Türkiye was USD 17 billion during 1971-2003, while the country has attracted USD 73 billion of foreign direct investment in the last five years. Korkmaz stated that the Gulf countries made investments of USD 400 million in Türkiye during 2007 and added, "This figure rose to USD 2 billion in 2008, and I think it will further increase this year.”