South Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Park Young-sik on Saturday said Bangladesh and South Korea both could further develop the existing bilateral relations in a mutually beneficial manner.
“Korea is not India, China, or the United States and does not have strategic interests (in Bangladesh),” he said while delivering his keynote speech at Cosmos Dialogue.
Building on what both countries have achieved over the past five decades, the ambassador said, it is now high time for both countries to make the next 50 years even more prosperous. To do this, he said that both countries need to expand high-level contacts.
Cosmos Foundation hosted the dialogue - the latest edition of Ambassadors’ Lecture Series titled “Bangladesh-South Korea Relations: Prognosis for the Future.”
Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, Cosmos Foundation president, scholar-diplomat, and former foreign affairs advisor of Bangladesh Caretaker Government chaired and conducted the session.
Enayetullah Khan, chairman of the Cosmos Foundation, delivered the closing remarks while Masud Khan, deputy managing director of Cosmos Group, delivered the welcome remarks.
Former ambassador Farooq Sobhan, ambassador (Retd) Tariq A Karim, honorary adviser emeritus, Cosmos Foundation; RubanaHuq, chairman of Mohammadi Group; Lailufar Yasmin, professor, Department of International Relations, Dhaka University; and Parvez Karim Abbasi, assistant professor, Department of Economics, East West University comprised the panel of discussants.
Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the Republic of Korea and Bangladesh in 1973, the two countries have been enhancing cooperation in various fields, such as politics, economy, culture, development cooperation, and human exchange.
The two-way trade has surpassed 3 billion dollars recently.
South Korea’s investment in Bangladesh is the fifth largest in terms of accumulated amount.
The South Korean ambassador identified footwear and leather, ICT, pharmaceutical, shipbuilding and ship breaking industry, Blue Economy and deep sea fishing, agricultural and agricultural machinery, greenhouse and carbon trading scheme as new areas of bilateral cooperation.
Ambassador Young-sik said Bangladesh requires the diversification of export items and in addition to the RMG, footwear, leather and pharmaceuticals are potential items.
Man-made or synthetic garments occupy more than 85% of the world market. However, he said, Bangladesh exports more than 75% of cotton-based garments.
“Increasing man-made synthetic garments requires huge capital and advanced technology. This is a big challenge for Bangladesh,” said the ambassador.
“Bangladesh should increase the labour productivity and need to enhance the order price of global buyers,” said the Korean envoy.
Bilateral trade reached a record high of $3 billion in 2022. It shrank in 2023, mainly due to the limited items from Bangladesh other than the RMG goods.
The Bangladesh government needs to focus on strengthening the manufacturing base and improving productivity, said the ambassador.
“Entering global competition without adequate preparation could damage the existing manufacturing sector,” he said.
He hoped that the Magna Bridge and the BSSMU Water Supply Projects under the discussions will progress smoothly.
In the question-answer session, the ambassador said any country reaching a certain level of development, needs to improve democratic process, accountability, enhance transparency and promote good governance.
“If not, overcoming the middle income trap will not be that easy. Accountability and good governance is very much important,” he said.
He also observed that Bangladesh’s economic decisions are too much influenced by the businessmen and tackling the high inflation is not well-handled
The ambassador also said Bangladesh needs to increase trade with neighbouring countries including India, Nepal, Thailand, and Myanmar and with the BIMSTEC region.
He said they have expertise in the areas of blue economy and deep sea fishing and he will pay attention.
END/UNB