Bangladesh,Turkey agree on direct air, banking links

FE Report

Dhaka and Ankara have agreed to establish direct banking and air links between to further widen trade, investment and economic cooperation between the two countries.

The agreement was made in the third session of the Bangladesh-Turkey Joint Cooperation for Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation (BTJCTETC) that concluded in Ankara Thursday.

Bangladesh Finance Minister AMA Muhith and Turkish Minister of state Mehmet Aydin led their respective delegations during the two-day session, said a finance ministry message sent from Ankara.

About the global economy, the two governments noted the gravity of the recent economic recession and agreed that a strong coordinated response was required to assist global economic recovery, it said.

Both the sides also reviewed the development of bilateral trade and noted that despite the increasing trend in trade volume since the second session of Bangladesh-Turkey Joint Economic Commission (JEC), the present trade volume did not meet either side's expectation and was far below the economic potential of both countries.

Both the governments underlined the importance of reciprocal visits of business delegations in promoting bilateral trade, economic and technical cooperation and agreed to encourage their business sectors - both public and private, it mentioned.

Both the sides also agreed to share their experience of public private partnership (PPP) with each other and extend technical cooperation for successful implementation of the PPP projects.

Bangladesh also expressed its interest to export medicines and pharmaceutical products to Turkey.

Dhaka and Ankara have also stated that businessmen/investors/other citizens of Bangladesh cannot directly remit their foreign currency to each other and this is always routed through third country's financial institutions, which causes unnecessary time consuming and transfer charge.

In this connection, both sides agreed to consider establishing direct banking transaction links through state-owned banks/suitable private banks or other financial institutions on a priority basis, the message said.

Both the sides also recognised the importance of joint ventures and investment in strengthening bilateral economic and commercial relations.

They also stressed the need for enhancing cooperation between small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) of the two countries.

Among others, Dhaka and Ankara also agreed to boost cooperation in the fields of power, energy and mineral resources, transportation, communication and tourism, maritime transportation, civil aviation, agriculture, culture and education between the two brotherly nations, it said.