The Ambassador of the Republic of Korea (ROK) to Bangladesh Mr. Park Young-sik paid a courtesy call on Foreign Secretary Md. Jashim Uddin at MoFA today. Mr. Park congratulated the Foreign Secretary for assuming the new position and wished that during his tenure the existing bilateral relations between Bangladesh and ROK will be further strengthened.
The Foreign Secretary thanked him and the Government of the ROK for the positive remarks towards the newly formed interim Government and putting confidence in the ability of the Government in restoring peace and stability in the country.
The Foreign Secretary expressed his satisfaction on the existing bilateral relations and recent upward trend of the volume of bilateral trade between the two friendly countries. He appreciated ROK for continuously being one of the major foreign investors in Bangladesh. He also thanked the Government of ROK for allowing preferential market access for a large number of Bangladeshi products into the ROK market through LDC and Asia Pacific Trade Agreement arrangements. Both sides urged for working together to conclude an Economic Partnership Agreement to address the growing trade imbalance and thereby facilitate sustainable and healthy growth in bilateral trade.
The Korean Ambassador stated that the improvement of business-friendly, predictable and stable environment should be one of the top priorities among the interim government’s tasks in order to attract more foreign investment. He said the Korean Embassy in Dhaka is eager to engage in further discussions with the interim government on improving the investment climate of Bangladesh.
The Foreign Secretary thanked the Ambassador for ROK government’s Employment Permit System (EPS) which has been providing employment opportunities for Bangladeshi workers in the ROK. He also expressed hope that the ROK Government will consider increasing the intake of nationals of Bangladesh and opening up opportunities for our workers to work in the ROK’s agriculture, fisheries, shipbuilding and other service sectors. The Foreign Secretary further requested to increase the number of Korean scholarship for Bangladeshi students in future.
Both sides expressed satisfaction for maintaining close cooperation on the international arena, to uphold global peace and security, promote free trade and supporting each other in international fora.