Ambassador of the Republic of Korea appointed to Bangladesh, Park Yong-sik, Foreign Minister. Hasan met Mahmud for the first time.
In this meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Segunbagicha, Dhaka on Wednesday afternoon, the issues of economic diplomacy prevailed. Bilateral issues including trade, investment and export of skilled manpower, Korean-run projects, agreements, technology exchange were discussed in detail.
The foreign minister thanked the South Korean government for allowing a large number of Bangladeshi products preferential market access and gifting seven luxury cars to Bangladesh on the occasion of 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Dr. Hasan said Bangladesh is actively considering bilateral instruments such as the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with South Korea to increase bilateral trade and investment. The Minister also discussed the new management system and its importance for continuous growth of cooperation after Bangladesh’s transition from ‘LDC’.
Describing South Korea as one of the major foreign investors in Bangladesh, the foreign minister highlighted the country’s fast growing economy and welcomed more investments in various fields including light engineering, electronics, home appliances, infrastructure development, information and communication technology.
Minister Hasan thanked the International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) of South Korea for starting the feasibility study of the metro rail project in Chittagong and requested for the speedy provision of necessary funds for the implementation of the project.
The foreign minister thanked Korea for increasing the quota for Bangladeshi skilled workers under Korea’s Employment Permit System (EPS) scheme in discussions on manpower exports to Korea. At that time, the Korean ambassador said that Bangladesh could not fulfill the quota of 10,200 people last year due to language learning problems. However, the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Foreign Employment of Bangladesh has already designated two Technical Training Centers (TTCs) in Bangladesh where Korean trainers can provide necessary language and technology training to solve the issue.
Besides, the foreign minister and ambassador met with Man-Made Fiber (MMF) and skills and technology exchange, avoidance of double taxation, revision of air services agreement, high-level bilateral visits and further modernization of Bangladesh’s industrial sector especially the garment industry through direct and joint investmentHe expressed consensus on furthering the relations between the two countries.