Türkiye’s Sanko Group’s proposed $300 million integrated textile facility in Bangladesh’s Mirsharai Economic Zone is more than a capacity expansion story. It is a signal that Turkish manufacturers are increasingly looking at outbound FDI as a way to protect buyer relationships, lower production costs and reposition supply chains before Bangladesh’s post-LDC trade transition reshapes apparel economics.
A Turkish Textile Bet on Bangladesh’s Next Stage
According to The Business Standard, Sanko told Bangladeshi officials on 28 July 2026 that it is interested in investing $300 million to establish an integrated textile manufacturing facility in the Mirsharai Economic Zone. The proposal was discussed in Dhaka during a meeting between Commerce, Industries, and Textiles and Jute Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir and a Sanko delegation.
The planned facility would produce fabrics, undertake textile processing and manufacture higher value-added textile products. Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha reported that Sanko wants to shift from supplying textile products from Türkiye toward creating a full-scale manufacturing base in Bangladesh for global export markets. Sanko representatives said the company had already completed preliminary site selection and discussions with local partners, with construction expected to take 12 to 18 months after the required approvals.
That timing matters. Bangladesh remains one of the world’s most important garment sourcing bases, but the sector is entering a more complicated phase. The BGMEA reports that Bangladesh’s RMG exports totaled $38.70 billion in fiscal 2025-26, down from $39.35 billion in fiscal 2024-25. The sector is still vast, but growth is no longer automatic.
For Sanko, the logic appears to be vertical integration close to buyers’ Bangladesh supply chains. For Bangladesh, the proposed investment would add upstream textile capacity, an area where the country has long sought deeper domestic capability rather than relying heavily on imported fabrics and inputs.
Why Mirsharai Has Become an FDI Test Case
Mirsharai is not just another industrial site. It is part of Bangladesh’s National Special Economic Zone, the country’s largest economic zone project. The Financial Express has described the zone as a 33,805-acre reclaimed industrial city intended to anchor export-oriented industrialisation near Chattogram, Bangladesh’s main port region.
The zone gives investors access to a planned industrial ecosystem rather than a standalone factory plot. For textile investors, that can mean proximity to ports, bonded logistics, labour pools, suppliers, customs infrastructure and potential buyer inspection networks. But the same concentration also makes implementation complex. Large projects require land due diligence, utility commitments, environmental permitting, building approvals, customs registration, tax incentive filings and, often, sustained government relations work.
The Sanko delegation’s own requests underline the point. The Business Standard reported that the company sought government support for gas and electricity connections, energy supply and other necessary approvals. BSS added that the group asked for uninterrupted gas and electricity and faster regulatory clearances. These are not peripheral concerns. In energy-intensive textile processing, utility reliability can determine whether a project is bankable.
Bangladesh’s zone programme offers generous incentives, but investors must convert policy promises into executable approvals. The KPMG Bangladesh Investment Guide says BEZA zones provide incentives including tax exemptions of up to 10 years for unit investors, tax exemptions on dividends, capital gains, royalties and technical fees for 10 years, partial tax exemption on expatriate salaries for three years, VAT exemptions on utility services, duty-free import of goods for zone development, foreign currency account facilities and permission for 100 percent foreign investment.
For a foreign manufacturer, those incentives are meaningful only if incorporated correctly into the project structure. This is where market entry strategy, company incorporation, corporate structuring, incentives planning, legal and tax compliance, and government liaison become central to execution.
Sanko’s Move Reflects Pressure Inside Türkiye’s Textile Industry
Sanko is not a marginal player. IFC described Sanko Holding in 2023 as a leading Turkish industrial group and one of the largest employers in Türkiye’s earthquake-affected Gaziantep region, with around 15,000 employees. IFC provided up to $150 million in financing to support Sanko’s sustainable expansion, including green-certified manufacturing facilities, a recycling facility for Sanko Tekstil and energy efficiency investments.
The Bangladesh proposal therefore looks less like opportunistic low-cost relocation and more like a strategic extension of a Turkish industrial group trying to serve global apparel buyers through a wider manufacturing footprint. Sanko’s own textile business positions itself around sustainable yarn and fabric manufacturing, while IFC said its financing supported a transition toward circular economy models.
That strategy fits broader pressure in Türkiye’s textile and apparel sector. Türkiye Today, citing official export data, reported that Türkiye’s textile and apparel exports fell 4.4 percent in 2025 to $26.18 billion. Ahmet Oksuz, chair of the Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters’ Association, said textiles and apparel remain Türkiye’s largest manufacturing segment by production value, but exporters face weaker demand, rising costs and tight financial conditions.
Bangladesh offers a different cost base and a sourcing ecosystem deeply embedded with global brands. The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs notes that Türkiye already exports cotton, textile machinery and related industrial goods to Bangladesh, while importing Bangladeshi jute products, knitwear, woven garments and leather goods. That means Sanko’s project would build on an existing trade channel, but move it from trade into production capital.
Recent diplomacy also supports the trend. BSS reported in April 2026 that Bangladesh’s commerce minister invited Turkish investors into sectors including RMG, textiles, agro-based industries and light engineering. In June, Prothom Alo reported that Bangladesh and Türkiye discussed deeper trade and investment ties, including possible FTA or PTA arrangements and a dedicated Turkish special economic zone. Prothom Alo put current bilateral trade at about $1.3 billion, with a target of $2 billion, while Bangladesh Textile Journal separately cited DCCI data putting bilateral trade at around $1.05 billion in FY2024-25 and Turkish investment in Bangladesh at about $74.05 million.
Infrastructure and Energy Are the Core Execution Risks
The main commercial risk for Sanko is not demand. Bangladesh has demand, export capacity and a deep labour pool. The more immediate risk is execution.
Energy is the clearest constraint. In April 2025, The Business Standard reported that investors in Bangladesh’s economic zones asked BEZA for high-pressure gas supply, uninterrupted electricity and permission for captive power plants. Aparup Chowdhury, chief executive of the Bangladesh Economic Zones Investors Association, told TBS that gas prices for new industries had risen by 33 percent, asking how new industrial establishments could be set up under such conditions.
That issue intersects directly with Sanko’s pledge to use environmentally friendly technologies and coal-free energy management. Global apparel buyers increasingly require traceability, emissions reporting, restricted chemical management and verified labour compliance. A plant that depends on unstable grid supply or expensive gas may struggle to deliver both cost competitiveness and sustainability claims.
The challenge is familiar to investors entering emerging markets, including Türkiye. Incentives, land and headline-level political support are only the first layer. Project delivery requires utility contracts, realistic construction sequencing, environmental and social impact processes, customs and import permissions for machinery, technology transfer arrangements, labour planning and local partner governance.
For an integrated textile facility, import-export facilitation is especially important. Machinery, dyeing and processing inputs, chemicals, spare parts and raw materials all need customs classification and compliant import channels. Export operations require bonded warehouse treatment, rules-of-origin planning, buyer audit readiness and documentation that can withstand scrutiny in the EU and US markets.
Trade Policy Raises the Stakes for Upstream Textile Investment
Sanko’s proposal also arrives as Bangladesh faces a major trade policy transition. Bangladesh is scheduled to graduate from least developed country status in November 2026, although the government has sought a three-year postponement. The Daily Star reported that, even if graduation proceeds on schedule, the EU has agreed to continue Bangladesh’s trade preferences for three years, meaning regular tariffs would apply from 2029 under the current timeline.
The Daily Star reported that nearly half of Bangladesh’s merchandise exports go to the EU and currently benefit from duty-free, quota-free access under the Everything But Arms scheme. It also cited studies estimating that Bangladesh could lose as much as $17.5 billion in exports annually after graduation because around 73 percent of exports benefit from LDC-related preferences.
The EU dimension is decisive for textile investors. The Daily Star, citing European Commission data, said EU-Bangladesh goods trade reached €23.3 billion in 2025, textiles accounted for almost 94 percent of EU imports from Bangladesh, and Bangladesh used the EBA scheme for €19 billion in exports in 2024 with a 96 percent utilisation rate.
A Turkish investor building fabric and processing capacity in Bangladesh must therefore plan beyond today’s tariff regime. If Bangladesh secures GSP Plus, an FTA, a CEPA or another preferential route, rules of origin and compliance standards will shape the value of local manufacturing. If tariff preferences weaken, investors will need productivity, sustainability credentials and higher value products to offset the loss.
That is why Sanko’s focus on advanced processing and value-added textile products is commercially important. Bangladesh’s competitiveness has traditionally rested on scale, labour cost and duty-free access. The next stage will depend more on local input capacity, faster delivery, product development, cleaner energy and compliance performance.
What This Means for Foreign Investors
Sanko’s proposed $300 million Mirsharai project shows how emerging market FDI is becoming more operationally demanding. The opportunity is clear: Bangladesh offers a large garment ecosystem, economic zone incentives, export experience and a government actively courting Turkish capital. The risks are equally concrete: utility reliability, approvals, environmental scrutiny, labour compliance, trade preference uncertainty and project execution.
For Turkish companies and other international investors evaluating similar moves, the advisory work begins before site selection. Market entry strategy must test whether Bangladesh, Türkiye or a third-country hub best fits buyer demand, tariff exposure and input costs. Incorporation and corporate structuring must align ownership, financing, profit repatriation, local partnerships and tax treatment. Incentives work must translate BEZA benefits into documented approvals rather than assumptions.
Legal and tax compliance will determine whether the project can import machinery, employ expatriates, qualify for exemptions, meet labour rules and pass buyer audits. Government relations matter because energy connections, land allocation, environmental approvals and customs procedures often require coordinated engagement across agencies. Expo representation and buyer-facing support can help investors turn production capacity into sourcing contracts, while import-export facilitation and project management are needed to move equipment, build facilities and reach commercial operation on schedule.
The lesson for investors looking at Türkiye is similar. Whether capital is entering Türkiye or Turkish capital is moving into another emerging market, the winning projects are not those that only identify a low-cost location. They are the projects that match market access, incentives, compliance, infrastructure and execution discipline into one investment plan.