South Korean Ambassador in Dhaka Lee Jang-keun on Wednesday highlighted the importance of furthering the bilateral commercial ties beyond RMG to various sectors such as bio-pharmaceutical and ICT.
He said this as South Korea has played a key role in building Bangladesh’s RMG sector to become the world’s second largest exporter.
Ambassador Lee added that Samsung R&D Institute has been operating in Dhaka since 2011, employing 460 young software developers in Bangladesh, and that Korea Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) has recently inaugurated a 100-acre Hi-tech Park within KEPZ.
He was speaking at a virtual discussion on “Bangladesh and ROK: Trade and Investment Opportunities” organised by the Bangladesh embassy in Seoul.
Salman F Rahman, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Private Industry and Investment, Paban Chowdhury, Executive Chairman of BEZA, Md Sirazul Islam, Executive Chairman of BIDA, Sultana Afroz, Secretary and CEO of PPPA, and Md Nazrul Islam, Executive Chairman of BEPZA, also participated in the panel discussion.
Ambassador Lee pointed out that despite the growth of overall trade volume of the two countries respectively, the bilateral trade has remained at a standstill for the past decade with the trade volume of $1.7 billion.
In order to realize the full potential of the Korea-Bangladesh commercial ties, he emphasised the importance of fostering a business-friendly environment, including addressing the challenges faced by companies doing business with the other country, particularly in tax and tariff policy, repatriation of profit, and streamlining administrative procedures, said the embassy in Dhaka.
Ambassador Lee hoped that all foreign investors and businesspeople in Bangladesh will be made eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations as soon as the vaccine supply becomes normalized in Bangladesh.
He added that equal treatment for foreign investors in Bangladesh’s vaccination program would be in line with the government’s policy to promote a business-friendly environment.
