Istanbul:Bangladesh is aiming to leverage Türkiye's expertise in generating electricity from waste and modernizing its leather industry. As part of this initiative, Commerce and Industries Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir visited several key facilities in Istanbul from November 4-5 to learn about Türkiye's technologies, operational practices, and industrial infrastructure.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the visit highlighted potential areas for cooperation in technical assistance, training, technology transfer, and investment partnerships between the two countries. On November 4, Muktadir toured the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's waste incineration and power generation plant. Senior officials explained the processing of household wastes and electricity generation. The plant, operated by ISTAÇ, processes 3,000 tonnes of waste daily and generates 85 megawatts of electricity. This technology could improve urban waste management in Bangladesh, reducing landfill pressure, depending on local assessments.
Muktadir also visited the Istanbul Leather Organised Industrial Zone (IDOSB) in Tuzla, where he received briefings from the zone's board chairman, Celal Koppuz, and officials from Türkiye's Ministry of Industry and Technology. They emphasized the significance of planned industrial zones and centralized wastewater treatment in leather production, which could aid Bangladesh in modernizing its leather industrial zones and enhancing environmental compliance.
At the Cevahir Leather Industry and Trade Co. Ltd. factory, the minister observed leather processing and was briefed on technologies for tanning and finishing leather for products like footwear.
On November 5, Muktadir visited the Enerjiram Thermal Disposal Facility in Sile, which treats hazardous industrial waste and generates electricity. Operated by Enerjiram under a Build-Operate-Transfer arrangement within ISTAÇ's waste management framework, the facility treats 33,000 tonnes of waste annually and has a power generation capacity of 5.6 megawatts.
These visits identified areas for collaboration with Turkish institutions in urban development, environmental management, and industrial modernization in Bangladesh. Appropriate waste treatment and energy recovery technologies could improve industrial waste management and contribute supplementary electricity to the national grid. Similarly, Türkiye's experience could aid Bangladesh in strengthening centralized effluent treatment systems in the leather sector, improving production processes, and increasing value addition. Training, technology transfer, and investment cooperation could enhance industrial competitiveness, diversify exports, and create new employment opportunities in Bangladesh.