Visiting Turkish Prime Minister BinaliYildirim on Tuesday expressed his country’s intention to further improve the existing strong trade and economic relations with Bangladesh, and assured of continuing its support to Rohingyas living in Bangladesh.
“We’ve discussed what we can do to improve our economic and trade relations,” he said terming Bangladesh a dynamic nation with nearly 7 percent growth over the past few years.
After a bilateral meeting with his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, the Turkish Prime Minister highly appreciated Hasina’s diplomacy over Rohingya issue and Bangladesh’s support to the displaced people.
He said the bilateral document signed between Bangladesh and Myanmar on November 23 will make Rohingyas’ return to their home possible soon.
The Turkish Prime Minister urged the international community to enhance their support for Rohingyas in Bangladesh and finding a political solution to the crisis looking at it as a humanitarian crisis instead of seeing it as an issue of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh and Myanmar on Tuesday formed a joint working group (JWG) to start the next step of work for the repatriation of Rohingyas living in Bangladesh and signed the terms of reference (TOR).
The agreed TOR mandates the JWG to undertake all the necessary measures to start the safe and voluntary return, resettlement and reintegration process of the displaced Myanmar residents as envisaged in the ‘Arrangement on Return of Displaced Persons from Rakhine State’.
An estimated 655,000 Rohingyas have crossed into Bangladesh fleeing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State since August 25, raising the total Rohingya population in Cox’s Bazar to 867,000, said the UN migration agency.
Prime Minister Hasina said she had a very fruitful discussion with the Turkish Prime Minister on bilateral and international issues of common interests.
“We’ve reiterated our commitment to work closely and support each other on bilateral and international issues of mutual concern, including the issue of forcibly displaced Rohingya people from Myanmar,” she said.
They talked about consolidating cooperation in key areas, such as, trade and investment, defence, education, tourism and connectivity.
BD for duty withdrawal on RMG, ceramic Bangladesh Prime Minister requested her Turkish counterpart to withdraw 17 percent and 19 percent additional duty imposed on Bangladeshi RMG and ceramic products.
The Turkish Prime Minister assured Bangladesh of looking into it, Foreign Secretary M ShahidulHaque told reporters at the PMO.
He said Sheikh Hasina mentioned that Bangladesh and Turkey can explore together the huge potential in the areas of trade and investment.
Bangladesh sought Turkish investment in special economic zones and Bangladesh, if necessary, can offer a dedicated zone for the Turkish investors, said the Foreign Secretary.
The Bangladesh Prime Minister also sought an initiative to quickly finalise the negotiations on Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries.
The Foreign Secretary said the bilateral relation between Bangladesh and Turkey moved another step ahead following the Turkish Prime Minister’s visit.
On many international issues like Jerusalem, Syria, and the Middle East, both Bangladesh and Turkey hold similar positions which have made the Dhaka and Ankara relations more consolidated, he said.
Referring to Turkish role at the UN in last September on the Rohingya issue, the Foreign Secretary said Turkey along with Saudi Arabia played a very strong leading role in mobilising international support at that time.
He mentioned that getting support of a country like Turkey on international and political issues is very significant for any country.
