A high-powered Bangladesh delegation will fly to Turkey next month for negotiation over signing of a free trade agreement (FTA) with the latter for mutual benefits, a high trade official said.
With this end in view, the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) will send the delegation, headed by an additional secretary of the ministry, to Turkey in early August, seeking to increase bilateral trade and investment between the two countries. Signing of the FTA could help in this regard.
"We will go to Turkey next month to discuss the FTA issue," additional secretary of the MoC Monoj Kumar Roy, who is expected to lead the delegation, told the FE Thursday.
He said they will uphold the country's interests while discussing the FTA issue with their Turkish counterpart.
He said the MoC has decided to send a pamphlet on the proposed FTA to the government of Turkey through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs so that they could take preparation for talks.
He said the two sides will discuss customs procedures, trade facilities, investment opportunities, standardisation of products, and sanitation securities for trade between the two countries.
Earlier, the Bangladesh-Turkey Joint Commission for Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation was held in Dhaka in November, 2012.
During the Joint Commission meeting, the two countries put emphasis on importance of expansion of bilateral trade between two countries up to US$3 billion by 2015.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited Turkey in April 2012 and had talks about signing of the FTA to boost trade and investment between the two countries.
The two countries are also members of the Developing Eight (D-8). That could help both the sides to move forward for signing FTA as early as possible, officials said.
The bilateral trade between the two countries could easily reach $3 billion by 2015 if the Turkish entrepreneurs invest in renewable energy, infrastructure, tourism and pharmaceuticals in Bangladesh, an influential leader of the FBCCI told the FF Friday.
He said signing of the FTA with Turkey has great importance for Bangladesh in terms of trade gains.
He said there is a huge demand for jute and jute goods, readymade garments (RMG) and frozen foods from Bangladesh to Turkey. Bangladesh imports cotton, LNG, capital machinery, textile processing raw materials (chemicals) and petroleum products.
Turkey is also one of the main competitors of Bangladesh in the global apparel business. But it (Turkey) is also a major market for Bangladeshi apparels.
The main hurdle of signing the FTA between Bangladesh and Turkey is that it needs permission from the European Customs Union.
Besides, imposition of extra 17 per cent duty on imports from Bangladesh to Turkey will be discussed during the upcoming official meeting of the two countries.
Turkey says the duty was imposed as a safeguard for their local industries and it is not only imposed in case of Bangladeshi exports, but also on other countries.
Bangladesh exported $124 million knitwear products and woven items worth $231 million to Turkey in the fiscal year (FY) 2011-12. The sales of knitwear items, however, stood at $272 million and woven items $245 million respectively in FY 2010-11, according to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
The two-way trade between Bangladesh and Turkey was less than $300 million in 2008. But it is now over $1 billion.
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