Dhaka wants Istanbul to address additional import duty on textile

Bangladesh will press Turkey to address the issue of the additional duty imposed on textile imports from this LDC country. It will be discussed at the second foreign secretary-level meeting between the two countries in Dhaka on June 3, Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune. The Bangladesh foreign secretary and under secretary of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Feridun Sinirlioğlu, will lead their respective sides. “The foreign office consultation meeting will help boost relationship between the two countries,” Haque said. Negative export growth Bangladesh exported $973m worth of products to Turkey in 2010-11, but that dropped sharply to $794m in the next fiscal year due to the imposition of a 17% additional duty by the Turkish government. In the fourth joint economic commission meeting in December, Bangladesh strongly appealed to Turkey to address the issue, a foreign ministry official said. “We understand that it is not possible for Turkey to provide any duty benefit to a single country, but it can always give the facility to the group of least developed countries (LDCs),” he said. Among all the LDCs, Bangladesh is the only country, which is a player in the Turkish apparel market. “The government can push forward the issue as Turkish prime minister during a visit to Dhaka in 2010 announced that the two-way trade would reach $3bn by 2015,” he said. Without addressing the duty issue, it is not possible to achieve the target, he added. Both countries enjoy a robust engagement, as they have signed 11 agreements in different areas over the past four years. Moreover, Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Bangladesh in 2010, director general of the foreign ministry, Nazrul Islam, said. “Our prime minister (Sheikh Hasina) also visited Turkey on two occasions – in 2012 on a bilateral visit, and in 2011 for the LDC IV summit,” he said. Bangladesh also opened a consulate office in Istanbul last year while a 55-member business delegation of the apex trade body, FBCCI, visited Turkey in 2012 to explore business opportunities, he added. War crimes tribunal In December, the Turkish president wrote a letter to his then Bangladeshi counterpart, Zillur Rahman, reportedly asking for “clemency” for those on trial for war crimes committed in 1971. Bangladesh strongly protested Turkey’s stand, saying it was interfering in the country’s domestic affairs. However, there is little possibility that the thorny issue will be raised at the secretary-level talks, said a diplomat. Important Bangladesh-Turkey agreements in last four years Military Grant Agreement 2009 Defense Related Logistic Implementation Protocol 2010 Visa Agreement 2012 Health Cooperation Agreement 2010 Air Transport Agreement 2010 Agreement on Customs Cooperation 2012