PUTRAJAYA, Jan 10 — State invesment fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd has increased its investment in Turkey by US$1.5 billion (RM4.9 billion), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced today.
The investment also included increasing its stake in the second Turkey international airport project to 60 per cent, the Najib said in a joint press conference welcoming his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"To underscore our confidence in the Turkish economy and the leadership of Prime Minister Erdogan, Khazanah has agreed to increase its investment in Turkey by the tune of US$1.5 billion," Najib said in his office here.
The bulk of the investment, at US$1.1 billion will go into the Turkish healthcare industry, said Najib.
A Khazanah spokesman later clarified later that the US$1.5 billion figure refers to all of its investments in Turkey so far, including investments in Turkey’s healthcare and insurance sectors.
Khazanah has also set aside US$300 million for its unit Malaysian Airports Holdings Bhd’s (MAHB) to increase its 20 per cent stake in the Sabiha Gokcen international airport in Istanbul, the spokesman told The Malay Mail Online.
Today's announcement follows the opening of Khazanah's regional office in Istanbul on October 31 last year.
Financial daily Business Times quoted Khazanah's managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar saying that the office will facilitate its entry into the Middle East and African countries.
In November 2013, Khazanah's insurance arm's US$252 million had purchased 90 per cent stake in Turkish insurer Acibadem Saglik ve Hayat Sigorta.
Najib said today that Malaysian investment in Turkey amounted to US$203.6 million as of July 2013.
Meanwhile, Turkey's investment in Malaysia stood at US$1.25 billion (RM4.7 billion), mostly in the manufacturing sector.
