Economy
“Turkiye-Bangladesh trade and investment potential to see high prospect in future”
The trade and investment potential between Bangladesh and Turkiye will see high prospects in the future, said Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industries (DCCI) President Rizwan Rahman.
An 86-member business delegation of DCCI is visiting Istanbul, Turkiye to explore new trade and investment opportunities. During this visit, the delegation attended the Bangladesh-Turkiye business forum arranged by the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce on 28 September 2022, said a press release.
In the welcome address Burhan Polat, executive board member of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce said that Bangladesh and Turkiye maintain a friendly bilateral trade relationship for a long.
He said Bangladesh is one of the important countries in the South Asian region in terms of trade and investment and Bangladesh is maintaining steady economic growth for the last few decades. Bangladesh should increase its export basket and volume.
The Turkish market is one of the potential places for Bangladeshi entrepreneurs. Bangladesh in recent times is doing better in the leather, pharmaceutical, RMG and light engineering sector. To boost bilateral trade he urged to sign a trade agreement.
Moreover, he stressed enhancing liaison between the private sector of these two countries. Istanbul Chamber is one of the largest trade organizations in the world and has more than 6 lakh members. Istanbul Chamber will be happy to extend its full out cooperation to the Bangladeshi investors to explore new investment opportunities in Turkiye.
Dhaka Chamber President and leader of the delegation Rizwan Rahman said that in FY2020-21 the bilateral trade between Bangladesh land Turkiye was $871.55 million which is in favor of Bangladesh. But the volume is not to the expected level. Turkiye is the 23rd largest export destination of Bangladesh. Turkiye is the 29th largest foreign investor in Bangladesh amounting $30.51 million.
Rizwan Rahman also said that Bangladesh and Turkiye can work and advocate together to form an effective D-8 economic bloc.
He urged Turkiye to transfer state-of-the-art industrial technology. He also urged for capacity building of SMEs, research collaboration, strengthening of agro-value chain and knowledge exchange. He also said that the existing bilateral trade volume does not reflect the actual trade potential between these two friendly countries. He later invited Turkish investors to invest in Bangladesh as well as import more from Bangladesh.
Later the business delegation members of Dhaka Chamber had interactive business-to-business match-making with more than 350 Turkish companies of different manufacturing and service sectors after the business forum.
After that Rizwan Rahman had a separate meeting with the President of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce Şekib Avdagiç.
Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus on Thursday paid tribute to the Armed Forces Division by placing a floral wreath at its headquarters.
Prof Yunus, who visited the division as part of his official duties, laid the wreath to honor the sacrifices and dedication of the members of the Armed Forces.
Following the wreath-laying ceremony, he signed the visitor’s book.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal, along with four other election commissioners, announced their resignation during a press conference today at the Election Commission (EC) building. The resignation follows growing speculation and pressure.
CEC Awal stated, “In this changed situation, I and other commissioners have decided to step down. We’re handing over our resignation letters to the EC Secretary to send it to the President.” After submitting the letters, the CEC and some commissioners quickly left the premises, with no clear explanation for the absence of two election commissioners.
The resignations come amid increasing unrest tied to the registration of political parties such as Nagarik Oikya and Gono Odhikar Parishad. Sources revealed the CEC felt unsafe due to aggressive behavior from activists, prompting the decision to step down.
Protesters outside the EC building hurled shoes at vehicles carrying Election Commissioners Rashida Sultana, Md Alamgir, and Anisur Rahman as they left. Meanwhile, preparations for their exit had already been underway, with the commissioners reportedly relocating personal belongings from their offices.
The commission, appointed in February 2022 for a five-year term, had previously expressed confusion over demands for their resignation, maintaining they had conducted fair elections. However, internal discussions led to the collective decision to resign earlier than expected.
The government will now purchase LNG from the international spot market through open tender instead of negotiation.
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in a meeting on Wednesday in principle approved a proposal in this regard.
Adviser of the interim government for Finance Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed, who presided over the meeting, said that the government will procure LNG through open tender.
The Energy and Mineral Division of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources placed the proposal where it sought approval to import LNG from 23 listed companies in the international spot market.
The adviser said that though such 23 companies were enlisted by the previous Awami League government and signed Master Sales and Purchase Agreement, they will remain unchanged.
He said that instead of applying the Speedy Increase of Energy and Power Supply (Special) Act 2010, the interim government will follow the Public Procurement Rules 2008 to ensure the competitive bidding process.
“We don’t want to change them as we wanted to import LNG quickly, ensuring proper competition among the suppliers,” he told reporters.
Committee also approved another proposal in principle to sign a contract to import urea fertiliser for the 2024-25 fiscal year from Fertiglobe Distribution Limited, UAE, on a G-to-G basis.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee on Government Procurement (CCGP) in a meeting, presided over by the Adviser for Finance, approved 3 proposals for import of lentil and fertiliser.
As per the proposal, the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh will procure 10,000 metric tons (MT) of lentil from local firm Sahara Enterprise at a cost of Tk 98.20 crore with each kg priced at Tk 98.20.
The Commerce Ministry which moved the proposal on behalf of the TCB in the meeting mentioned in the proposal that the supplier firm was selected through open tender.
The CCGP approved two separate proposals of the Industries Ministry under which Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation will import 30,000 MT of bulk granular urea fertiliser from Fertiglobe Distribution Limited, UAE, under state to state contract at a cost of Tk 121.48 crore.
Each metric ton of fertiliser will cost $343.17.
Another 30,000 MT of bagged granular urea fertiliser will be procured from the local Karnaphuli Fertilizer Company Limited (Kafco) at a cost of Tk 116.99 crore with each metric ton costing $330.50.
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