Lars Thunell, Chief Executive of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), said the situation in the Middle East and North Africa was a risk from a political and economic point of view but hoped it would be an opportunity in the medium term.

“One of the things we’ve seen is Turkey’s ambition to be friends with everybody around,” he said in an interview.

“I think that position allows you to be a stabilising factor, both with the growth you have but also being able to be a constructive discussion partner for various parties,” he said.

Thunell said the IFC had had a record year in Turkey in the financial year to June 2011, with investments of about $1.2 billion-$1.3 billion including finance mobilization.

“We think that going forward over the next four years or so we’ll do something like $3 billion, including for our own account and mobilization,” he said.

International Finance Corporation (IFC) promotes development by mobilizing financing for the private sector in its developing member countries.

Turkey is its fifth-largest exposure after Russia, India, China and Brazil.

The three focuses of IFC activity in Turkey were expected to be the banking sector, energy — including renewables like wind farms and hydropower — and the competitiveness of Turkish industry, he said.

The IFC’s activities would shift focus to rural areas, having being focused primarily until now on Istanbul.

Istanbul has also become a regional hub for the IFC, covering operations in some 50 countries in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

Its staff has risen to 140 from 50 a year ago and is expected to rise toward 200, Thunell said.

“One of the things we’ve seen with Turkey over the last couple of years is that the industry has been very good in shifting its markets,” he said, pointing to its involvement in both western and eastern Europe and in the Middle East.

“We see many of the Turkish firms becoming regional players and we have actually invested with them in places like Bulgaria, Russia, Egypt and so on. I think that is something that will continue,” he added.