Seoul, 27 January 2021:

The first-ever bilateral meeting between Bangladesh and the Republic of Korea on “Exploring trade and investment opportunities’, jointly organized by the Ministry of Commerce of the Government of Bangladesh and the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea and hosted by the Embassy of Bangladesh in Seoul was held online (via zoom) on 27 January 2021 at 1100 hrs in Dhaka time and at 1400 hrs in Seoul time. Around 62 participants from both the countries including senior government officials and representatives from the notable trade bodies participated in the above meeting. Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Bangladesh H.E. Mr. Lee Jang-keun in a pre-recorded message wished all the success of this event.

Senior of officials of both the countries stressed the diversification of products and cooperation. Referring to the strategically important location at the crossroad between China, India, and ASEAN, Director General for International relations of the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea, Mr. Yoonjong Chun said that Bangladesh has drawn much global interest by attracting investment and expanding infrastructure resulting in its impressive economic growth resulting in growing interest from the Korean investors. He stressed diversification in cooperation and  expressed interest to explore other areas of cooperation including-steel, ship-building, chemicals, and high-tech industries. Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce of Bangladesh Mr. Md. Abdur Rahim Khan, while focusing on the government’s efforts on the formulation of trade policy stressed the diversification of the export basket of Bangladesh and highlighted the government’s efforts in facilitating foreign investments. He encouraged the Korean investors to invest in Bangladesh by taking the advantage of the diversification era in Bangladesh.

Ambassador Abida Islam in her welcoming remarks underlined the potential sectors for Korean investments while providing a brief account of the bilateral trade and investment cooperation between the two countries. She specified blue economy, shipbuilding, biotech industry, fish and seaweed processing plants in addition to other thriving sectors of Bangladesh and emphasized regular exchanges of between the business delegations of the two friendly nations.

In his opening remark, H.E. Mr. Lee Jang-keun, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Bangladesh, provided a brief overview on the bilateral trade and investment scenario as well as directions for future engagements. Ambassador Lee anticipated that this meeting would provide a valuable opportunity not only to reaffirm the will of two countries to enhance cooperation but also to discuss concrete measures to further deepen and strengthen the bilateral partnership.

Chairman and CEO of Korea Importers Association (KOIMA) of the Republic of Korea Mr. Hong Kwang Hee expressed confidence that this event will create momentum to expand the trading network between the businessmen of the two countries to further strengthen the bilateral trade relationship. He called for the continued support from both the governments for the promotion of trade and investment.

The discussions were followed by the presentations by Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) on the ‘Economic Trends and Korean Business Presence in Bangladesh, KOIMA on ‘Characteristics of Korean consumer market and importable items’ and the Embassy of Bangladesh in Seoul on trade and investment opportunities in Bangladesh and the Republic of Korea. During the question-and-answer session, which was followed by the presentations, the participants expressed their opinions on the directions of future engagements to step up bilateral trade and investment cooperation in order to take this bilateral commercial relation towards a newer height.

The meeting came to an end with the vote of thanks given by the Commercial Counsellor of the Embassy of Bangladesh in Seoul.