Intrametropolitan location of producer-service FDI in Istanbul

For the purpose of increasing the capacity of foreign trade and attracting more foreign capital, Turkey began to modify its relevant economic laws and institutions in the 1980s. This restructural process proved its success, increasing the number of firms with foreign capital operating in Turkey 29 times between 1980 and 1997. However, considering other developing countries on a global scale, this increase rate was less than expected. When the conjuncture of global political systems undergoing dramatic changes since the previous century is regarded carefully, entering the twenty-first century as a country still in the process of developing, it is most probable that Turkey will become a country of significant power in this century with its historical, geographical, ethnic, and economic potentials in the Balkans, Middle Eastern and Caucasian regions. Due to the emergence of new opportunities in the Middle East, the Turkic Republics, Ukraine and the Federation of Russia since the beginning of the 1990s, in order to preserve its external appeal, Turkey has been obliged to adapt to the changes in the goals of this area. With the advantage of being a coastal city positioned at the crossroads of trade routes throughout history, Istanbul has been the centre of commercial control and coordination. Today the advantage of its geographical position makes Istanbul an important centre preferred by global capital for reaching local markets and resources. In other words, Istanbul is a candidate to be the centre of the functions of control and accessibility within these interregional networks. In this respect, the pattern of foreign direct investment (FDI) in producer services has been investigated. This paper represents a portion of the research conducted in Istanbul by Istanbul Technical University.