Turkish Ambassador Mustafa Osman Turan has said his country wants to make an increased investment in Bangladesh and raise the bilateral trade volume through product diversification.

Bangladesh has a very bright future and its economy is growing fast like Turkey, he said.

"Turkish investors are keen to invest in Bangladesh as it offers attractive incentives for foreign investors," he told news agency UNB in an interview at his office.

The envoy who came to Bangladesh just before the Covid-19 outbreak said a prominent Turkish company will invest $100 million in the liquefied petroleum gas sector in Chattogram. "That will be an initial investment."

Turan said improving bilateral trade, boosting investment in Bangladesh and enhancing cultural and people-to-people ties will be among his priorities during his tenure in Bangladesh.

"As an envoy, there's always a desire to do something more," he said, adding that he is lucky to see the positive atmosphere in place created by his predecessors to take forward the relations to a new height.

"We're happy that our economic and trade relations are improving," said the envoy, who also served in Italy, Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Austria, Afghanistan and Belgium.

The Turkish envoy said they buy a lot of jute products from Bangladesh and will explore other areas saying the two countries can always diversify their trade.

"Bangladesh has a very strong pharmaceutical industry and a growing IT industry," he said, adding that the agro industries, light-engineering, services sector, tourism and health sectors are some promising areas of cooperation.

Around $1 billion worth of trade takes place between the two nations every year and scope is there to increase it further, he said.

The bilateral trade volume in the first 10 months of the current year stood at $754 million, which is equivalent to that of 2019, he said.

"That's good news indeed! We kept the same level of trade despite the pandemic where other countries are experiencing a significant drop in their trade volumes. This year, the trade balance is in favour of Bangladesh as Bangladesh is selling a lot of jute products to Turkey."

Turkey mainly ships raw materials, agriculture and food products, textile and agriculture machinery and textile chemicals to Bangladesh while imports jute yarns and twine, jute manufacturers' knitwear and readymade garments.

On Turkish companies' presence in Bangladesh, the ambassador said Turkey's leading home appliance manufacturer Arçelik has bought majority shares of Singer Bangladesh and made it quite profitable.

The Turkish company thinks Singer Bangladesh's business will benefit significantly from the sale as Arçelik is a much larger and financially stronger company with a worldwide reputation in the home appliance sector.

The Turkish investors are interested to invest in a special economic zone as Bangladesh offers quite attractive incentives for investment, he said.

"We're going to organise a virtual meeting among businesses of the two countries to identify areas of cooperation and explore opportunities jointly."

Top executives of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority, the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey will take part in the discussion.

Turkish contracting companies are also interested in mega infrastructure projects in Bangladesh, he said.

The ambassador, who joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey in 1992, said 50 years have been quite a significant journey for Bangladesh.

"Bangladesh is progressing in a speedy way with an impressive development achieved in the last 10 years under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. In the last decade, Bangladesh has become a model for many developing countries," he said.

Bangladesh has got a solid foundation given by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and today Bangladesh is a much-respected nation globally, he said.

He said Bangladesh's foreign policy "Friendship to all, malice to none" is coinciding with Turkey's foreign policy motto "peace at home, peace in the world".

Bangladesh is making significant contributions to global peace through its robust engagement with the UN peacekeeping operations.

"Therefore, it will be a very well-deserved celebration for Bangladesh, its people and the government of Bangladesh."

While virtually inaugurating the newly-built Bangladesh embassy complex in Ankara on September 14, the Bangladeshi premier invited Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan through Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

A fruitful discussion has taken place with a number of ministers in Bangladesh regarding cooperation between the two countries in the coming years, the ambassador said.

Turkey wants to establish a hospital in Dhaka as the Western Asian country has vast experience in the sector. "That's one of the big projects in our mind. We would like to share our experience."

"Turkey has become one of the top five destinations for health tourism in the world and it could be another destination for those Bangladeshis who go abroad for better treatment."

He also said Turkey wants to boost cultural exchanges and academic cooperation to help Turkish and Bangladeshi people learn more about each other.

He also appreciated Bangladesh's efforts in dealing with the Covid-19 situation.

The Turkish health ministry has provided five tonnes of medical supplies to Bangladesh, including masks, personal protective equipment and ventilators, he said.

He said Turkey provided medical supplies to 150 countries and Bangladesh is one of those countries.