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Bangladesh is a favourable destination for Turkish investors while the country’s overall business environment, policies, and regulatory regime are congenial for investment, a visiting delegation from Turkey has said.
The 14-member delegation from the Turkey-Bangladesh Business Council said this during a meeting with Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) President Rizwan Rahman on Monday.
The delegation was led by Chairperson of the council Hulya Gedik. Turkish Ambassador to Bangladesh Mustafa Osman Turan accompanied the delegation.
Hulya said Turkish entrepreneurs do not know much about Bangladesh due to a lack of communication.
She said they had opened a Bangladesh business centre in Turkey to help Turkish entrepreneurs know more about how to start a business in Bangladesh.
Hulya also emphasised the sustainability of trade relations between Bangladesh and Turkey.
The Turkish ambassador said Bangladesh is going to be a developed nation by 2041 while Turkey wants to be the 10th largest economy.
But these goals would not be achieved without a partnership, he said.
He said Bangladesh’s ICT, pharmaceutical, and light engineering sectors have good potential to attract foreign direct investment.
Mustafa further said Turkish machinery is almost of the same quality as that of Europe and America but comes at a cheaper rate.
A few big Turkish companies are operating in Bangladesh, which is a sign of Bangladesh’s competitiveness, he said.
Commercial Counsellor of the Turkish embassy Kenan Kalayci said the Bangladesh-Tukey bilateral trade volume had increased by about 20 per cent in the last nine months.
He also hoped that this trade would reach $2 billion soon.
Rizwan told the meeting Bangladesh’s exports to Turkey were $499.79 million in the fiscal year 2020-21.
“In FY20, bilateral trade with Turkey was $686.41 million. Of this, Bangladesh’s exports were $453 million while imports were $233.41 million. This reflected a positive trade balance of $220.06 million in favour of Bangladesh,” he said.
The DCCI president also said infrastructure, construction materials, railway, renewable energy, automobile, healthcare, medical equipment, shipbuilding, agriculture, and home appliance are some of the potential areas for Turkish investment in Bangladesh.
He said Turkey sources only 0.21 per cent of its imports from Bangladesh.
“Bangladesh can be a key focus of Turkey for trade and investment under the latter’s ‘Asia Anew’ initiative,” he further said.
He called upon stakeholders to utilise the Turkey-Bangladesh Business Council to facilitate bilateral trade and investment.
