Turkish team due in October to discuss $300 million credits

A high level delegation of EXIM Bank of Turkey will visit Bangladesh in October to discuss the proposed US$ 300 million Turkish credit line for infrastructure development, foreign ministry officials said.

Top executives of TURK EXIM Bank at a meeting with the State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam Wednesday in Ankara discussed the ways and means of utilise the loan.

Earlier, Turkish EXIM Bank had opened a creditline for Bangladesh that could be utilised by the private sector. The credit will help encourage the Turkish investors to do business in Bangladesh either as a joint venture or 100 per cent Turkish ownership.

The fourth Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meeting between   Bangladesh and Turkey in November 2012 decided to raise the volume of bilateral trade to $ 3 billion by next year and $ 300 billion Line of Credit from Ankara for private sector.  

The State Minister for Foreign Affairs is on a two-day official visit to Ankara to represent the government of Bangladesh at the invitation of Turkish government to the Presidential Handover Ceremony of the Republic of Turkey.

The handover ceremony took place yesterday at the Presidential Palace in Ankara when Recep Tayyip Erdo?an took over the charge of the Presidency of Turkey from outgoing President Mr. Abdullah Gul.

The State Minister emphasised that the credit line could be used for infrastructure projects in Bangladesh as well as for financing Turkish exports to Bangladesh. The credit would also be utilised by the private sector ventures in Bangladesh.

He also requested the EXIM Bank to reduce the rate of interest on the credit line. He invited potential Turkish investors to take advantage of the favourable business environment now prevailing in Bangladesh.