Bangladesh-Turkey Business Forum launched

Bangladesh-Turkey Business Forum (BTBF) was officially launched on January 17, 2023 with the aim of facilitating and increasing bilateral trade and investments between Bangladesh and Turkey. The event was held at the Turkish Residence in the city with Salman F Rahman, private industry and investment adviser to the Prime Minister, in attendance as the chief guest.

The Turkish Embassy in Dhaka, recognizing the growing interactions between businesses and entrepreneurs, took the initiative to encourage and support the establishment of the ‘Bangladesh-Türkiye Business Forum’ (BTBF) which was formed in the middle of last year. Led by the managing director of Mohammadi Group and former president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Dr Rubana Huq and Salahuddin Kasem Khan of AK Khan Group of Companies as co-chairpersons, BTBF brings together 13 Bangladeshi conglomerates and six Turkish companies operating in Bangladesh. Kazi Zahedul Hasan, founder and MD, Kazi Farms Group has been made BTBF deputy chairperson while Ercument Polat, chief executive officer, United Aygaz LPG Ltd will act as BTBF secretary general.

Outgoing Turkish Ambassador Mustafa Osman Turan, who attended the event, acknowledged that during his three-year tenure in Bangladesh, significant progress had been made in trade volume and Turkish investments in Bangladesh. He expressed confidence that this progress would continue in the future.

“ICT and pharmaceutical industries appear as promising fields of cooperation as well as agro-industry and light engineering. Bangladesh can also benefit from the growing interest of the Turkish contracting companies to participate in infrastructure and transport projects,” he said, adding that a Turkish company had recently won a highway construction work.

The bilateral trade between the two countries stood at about US$888.41 million in the fiscal year 2021-22. Bangladesh exported goods worth US$458.15 million in the last fiscal.

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Readymade garment exports to Turkey have fallen drastically in recent years, standing at US$ 193 million in the last fiscal compared to US$ 622.37 million in fiscal 2013-14, mainly due to the 17 per cent safeguard duty imposed by Turkey.

Other Bangladesh-Turkey Business Forum founding members are Alihussain Akberali, chairman, BSRM, Anjan Chowdhury, key stakeholder, Square Group, Abul Khair Litu, chairman, Bengal Group Ltd and founder, Bengal Foundation, Enayetullah Khan, founder and MD, Cosmos Group, Mohamed Haniffa Mohamed Fairoz. CEO and MD, Singer Bangladesh Ltd, Moinuddin Hasan Rashid, chairman and MD, United Group, Mirza Salman Ispahani, chairman and MD, MM Ispahani Ltd, Sk Nasir Uddin, chairman, Akij Group, Emrah Karaca, country manager, Turkish Airlines in Bangladesh, Hakan Altınışık, director of technology and innovation, Arçelik, Mehmet Yıldız, administrative and financial specialist, NKY Architects & Engineers, Muhammed Çağrı Ünal, construction coordinator, EPİK Holding and Özgür Türk, country director, LCWaikiki.