Eastern Europe as investment location for Turkish OFDI

After the end of Cold War and of decades of socialist-type development, Eastern Europe started a political and economic transition process to be integrated into the global economy, and to be able to catch up to more developed countries and regions. In this path, the attraction of foreign direct investment was crucial, so most countries in Eastern Europe tried to give incentives to promote foreign direct investments. Recently, an increasing part of this capital is coming from emerging economies. With a dynamic economic performance and a growing global integratedness, the Turkish economy has also emerged as a capital investor abroad, and it has become one of the leading investors in its neighbouring regions. The changing Turkish foreign policy has also promoted the active presence of Turkish companies in neighbouring countries, as part of its new strategy aiming at strengthening the central position of Turkey in the region. In our study, we examine Turkish investments in Eastern Europe by focusing on location specific advantages of the region. We try to give a country- and a sector-specific overview of Turkish investment to detect the most important factors that attract Turkish investment to Eastern Europe.