Bangladesh needs promotional campaigns in Turkiye to attract investments

The bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Turkiye needs to be bolstered through private sector engagement, incentives to foreign investors, and more promotional campaigns, trade leaders of both countries said at a forum.  

The visiting business delegation of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) attended the forum on "Exploring trade and investment opportunities between Bangladesh and Turkiye" organised by the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkiye (DEIK) at a city hotel in Istanbul, Turkiye on 29 September.

In the meeting, DCCI President Rizwan Rahman termed the RMG value chain, automotive, leather and footwear, pharmaceutical, plastic and infrastructure in Bangladesh as the potential sectors for Turkish entrepreneurs. 

"Even in the pandemic period, our export grew 34.38% till June 2022. Bangladesh has a very good demographic dividend. Bangladesh is ready to take Turkish investment right at this moment," he said.

"We also need to figure out if there are any tariff and non-tariff barriers in terms of exporting to Turkiye," the DCCI president said, inviting Turkish carpet makers to import quality jute from Bangladesh.

Turkiye-Bangladesh Business Council was established in 2011 and Bangladesh-Turkiye Business Forum was established in 2022. Moreover, both the countries are member states of D8 and OIC. 

Rizwan Rahman suggested forming a joint economic commission with the active participation of the private sector. 

An 86-member business delegation of the Dhaka Chamber led by its President Rizwan Rahman is now visiting Istanbul, with a view to exploring a new horizon of trade and investment opportunities and attracting foreign direct investments (FDI) to Bangladesh.
 
During the meeting, Chairman of DEIK/Turkiye-Bangladesh Business Council Onur Ozden said, "Bangladesh's economy has progressed a lot in the last few decades and made the country one of the most potential countries in the world."

"Turkish entrepreneurs are already in operation in Bangladesh and the others are very keen to explore these possibilities further. But the bilateral trade between these two countries should be increased and for that exchange of such business delegations would be the best option," he added.

Ambassador of Turkiye in Bangladesh Mostafa Osman Turan said, "Bangladesh is a land of opportunities but it is not well known in Turkiye. Bangladesh is giving different fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to foreign investors and B2B can play a vital role for enhancing trade and investment in that case."

More than 110 companies invited by DEIK joined for an interactive B2B session with the DCCI business delegation members after the business forum.

In the end, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the DCCI and Istanbul Gedik University.