PM invites Turkish investment in Bangladesh

 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday said her government has initiated plans to make Bangladesh the hub of all economic activities in South Asia and South-East Asia regions encompassing China and India.

“We are determined to take advantage of the natural geographical location of Bangladesh, which makes us the strategically best choice for investment in the region,” she said at a business meeting with TUSKON, a leading business group in Turkey, at Hotel Sheraton in Ankara.


TUSKON President Rezanur Meral and AK Azad, president of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), spoke on the occasion. Leading members of TUSKON were present in the meeting.

Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists of Turkey (TUSKON) represents seven business federations, 172 business associations, 40,000 businesspeople and 120,000 companies in Turkey. This is one of the leading business organisations in the country.

The premier said although Bangladesh and Turkey enjoy best of their relations in political terms but it is regrettable that Turkish investment in Bangladesh has so far been insignificant.

‘’We offer one of the best investment regimes in our region and beyond,” she told the Turkish business leaders.

Hasina said the Bangladesh government has opened the Bangladesh Consulate General in Istanbul to cater to business and investment requirements in a better way for the Turkish investors.

In the last few years, she said, the Bangladesh government has been developing road, rail, sea, and air connectivity in the region that would connect Bangladesh to a market of over two billion people.

The prime minister invited the TUSKON to come to Bangladesh and see the investment-friendly climate carefully created by the government for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bangladesh.

She said at present, trade between Bangladesh and Turkey is far below the potential and it is only around US$ 1 billion.

“During the visit of your prime minister to Bangladesh in November 2010, we decided to achieve a target of at least US$ 3 billion bilateral trade volume by 2015,’’ Hasina said, adding that TUSKON can play a significant role in achieving this ambitious target.

The prime minister said Bangladesh and Turkey will sign Free Trade Agreement (FTA) soon.

Hasina mentioned that Bangladesh’s export to Turkey has so far been limited to a few products like readymade garments and jute yarn.

“We can offer many more. You can import ceramic products, leather and leather products, frozen shrimp, jute goods, handicrafts, bicycle, and many other products from Bangladesh at competitive prices.”

She said Bangladesh is also a host to one of the biggest pharmaceutical industries of the world.

“Our domestic industry not only meets more than 90 percent of our demand, but also exports high-quality pharmaceutical products to some 83 countries at competitive prices. We now export medicines to countries in Europe and North America.”

The prime minister urged the TUSKON to take advantage of this phenomenal growth of the pharmaceutical industry in Bangladesh to provide quality medicines at better prices to the Turkish people.