Anxious Turkish investors eyeing opportunities abroad
Mounting political tensions, uncertainties and declining rule of law in Turkey are pushing Turkish entrepreneurs to consider investing abroad.
Turkish tycoon Rahmi Koc announced last month that his business empire, Turkey’s largest, had grown enough at home and was turning to overseas investments. “The Koc Group has to open up to the world,” Koc said at a Jan. 18 press conference. “From now on, the investments will be abroad.”
Koc claimed his company had become “two sizes too big” for Turkey, and the competition watchdog was now constraining its growth. Referring to Koc Holding’s home appliances giant, he said, “When Arcelik adds another two points to its market share, the Competition Authority instantly tells us that it is too much, that we should stop. When we buy something new, they deny a permission. Hence, we need to move investments abroad.”
