Bangladesh, Turkey seek to advance FTA negotiations

Commerce, Textiles and Jute and Industries Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir on Monday stressed the need to advance negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Turkey and strengthen bilateral trade and investment cooperation.
He made the remarks during a meeting with Turkish Ambassador to Bangladesh Ramiz Sen at the Industries Ministry in the capital, according to a press release.
The meeting reviewed progress in initiating FTA discussions and explored ways to expand economic relations and identify new areas of cooperation.
The minister expressed interest in holding a bilateral meeting with his Turkish counterpart and meeting representatives of Turkey’s investment agencies during his upcoming visit to the country.
The two sides also discussed facilitating business-to-business contacts by sharing details and profiles of Turkish fruit exporters with Bangladeshi businesses to increase fruit imports from Turkey.
Cooperation in managing hazardous industrial waste, particularly waste generated by the electronics and ship-breaking industries, also came up for discussion. The two sides discussed possible cooperation with Turkey in establishing and operating specialised treatment, storage and disposal facilities (TSDFs) for hazardous waste.
On the leather industry, Ambassador Sen said leather processing and tannery activities had declined in Turkey due to environmental concerns. At the same time, the use of synthetic leather and imports of raw materials had increased, he said.
The Turkish ambassador invited Bangladesh to participate in the upcoming ministerial meeting of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC), as well as the World Halal Industrial Summit and Halal Expo.
Bangladesh informed him that the commerce minister would attend the COMCEC conference, while other Bangladeshi representatives would participate in subsequent programmes.