The bilateral trade volume between Korea and Bangladesh is expected to reach a record high this year.
Between January and November this year, the trade volume, according to the statistics by the Korea Trade Association, recorded 2.014 billion US dollars, 54.6% increase from the same period of last year which was 1.303 billion US dollars.
Bangladesh’s export increased by 35.8% with 498 million US dollars from 393 million US dollars in 2020 while Korea’s export to Bangladesh rose by 61.9% with 1.51 billion US dollars from 1.033 billion US dollars in 2020.
Bilateral trade has been stagnant at the level below 1.6 billion US dollars for almost a decade after it peaked 1.872 billion US dollars in 2011. Bangladesh’s export to Korea, which reached over 100 million US dollars in 2007 and 200 million US dollars in 2011, remained stagnant after it reached over 300 million US dollars in 2013. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Bangladesh’s export to Korea, however, crossed over 400 million US dollars in 2019 and recorded 393 million US dollars in 2020. It is expected to go over 500 million US dollars by the end of this year.
The main export items of Bangladesh to Korea are garments, sports and leisure items and bronze scraps. Garment exports which accounts for 81 percent of total export to Korea increased by 32.4% than the previous year with 442 million US dollars, while sports and leisure items skyrocketed by 92% with 303 million US dollars. Export of bronze scrap rose by 175% with 9.14 million US dollars.
Korea’s export to Bangladesh which peaked in 2011 with 1.63 billion US dollars has decreased to approximately 1.2 billion US dollars for many years and further deepened to 1.03 billion US dollars in 2020. It might be even possible to surpass the level of 2011 by the end of this year. Major export items of Korea to Bangladesh are machinery, petrochemical product, steel and pesticides. Export of machinery rose by 107% to 297 million US dollars which reflects the continued growth of Bangladesh’s manufacturing sector. Petrochemical product increased by 64.2% with 279 million US dollars. Steel export grew by 45.7% with 190 million US dollars and pesticides by 68% with 78 million US dollars.
Ambassador Lee Jang-keun of the Republic of Korea said that this year will mark a momentous turning point in the bilateral trade between the two countries overcoming the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and expect the bilateral cooperation will be further strengthened in the coming years. He hoped that Bangladesh business sector take advantage of the preferential trade policy of Korea to Bangladesh which provides duty and quota free access to the Korean market by 95% of the product since 2008.
