'Turkey, Bangladesh should form new cooperation fields'

ANKARA

Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister has said Turkey and Bangladesh have opportunities, and the two countries should form new cooperation fields.

The bilateral economic and commercial relations can be strengthened, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy stressed at the fifth Bangladesh-Turkey Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meeting in the capital Ankara on Wednesday.

The meeting, which was held after four years, has significant importance for accelerating bilateral trade and economic relations, he noted.

Saying that JEC meetings should be organized annually, he underlined: ''Effective use of the Turkey-Bangladesh Business Council, established in 2011, is very important.''

The minister expressed that the bilateral trade volume was $858 million in 2018, with Turkey's $373 million exports.

Despite the distance, Turkey focuses on the Asia-Pacific region and signed free trade agreements with South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore, he reminded.

He also said: ''We will give all support to Bangladesh for attracting foreign investments, we will convey all information and experience in agriculture, industry, and technology sectors to the country.''

"I believe we will make progress in foreign investment by signing the Agreement on Mutual Promotion and Protection of Investments between the two countries," he added.

Bangladesh's Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, who headed the Bangladeshi delegation at the meeting, stated that Dhaka and Ankara would continue to develop bilateral relations.

Underlining that his country has shown 8% economic growth in the past two years, Kamal said Bangladesh would be the 27th largest economy in the world by 2028.

* Writing by Gokhan Ergocun from Istanbul