Turkey keen to invest in SEZ

Turkish businesses are keen to invest in a special economic zone in Bangladesh as it offers attractive incentives for foreign investors, said Turkish ambassador to Bangladesh Mustafa Osman Turan on Tuesday.

The Western Asian country also wants to make an increased investment in Bangladesh and raise the bilateral trade volume through product diversification, he said.

He spoke at a meeting with the senior officials of Eastern Bank Ltd (EBL) at the bank's head office at Gulshan in Dhaka.

EBL Managing Director and CEO Ali Reza Iftekhar briefed the ambassador about its banking operation, its role in overall economic development of the country, Covid-19 response and its role in facilitating foreign trade and investment.

"EBL has established trade business in the area of import and export with Turkey. We have correspondent banking relationships with Turkish banks. We have ad-confirmation and financing against letters of credit by Turkish banks," Iftekhar said.

"Turkish banks are our partners in guarantee business. We issue local guarantee against counter guarantee of Turkish Banks."

The banker said he is keen to take forward the relation to a new height.

Terming Bangladesh as a rising star, the Turkish ambassador said: "Bangladesh is growing fast and the country has a bright future."

He said Turkey is looking for cooperation in sectors like pharmaceutical, IT, agro, light engineering, services sector, tourism and health.

Present bilateral trade volume between Turkey and Bangladesh is around $1 billion and Bangladesh's yearly jute export to Turkey worth about $300 million.

"An MoU will soon be signed between the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey," the envoy said.

Talking about Turkish investment in near future, he said a leading Turkish company Aygazis is coming up with a big investment for the liquefied petroleum gas sector in Chattogram.

The envoy disclosed his plan about initiating a Turkey-Bangladesh Business Platform soon to bring business leaders of both the countries together for better business understanding and cooperation.