South Korea-Bangladesh agree on joint effort to boost bilateral trade
South Korea and Bangladesh have agreed on joint effort to enhance bilateral trade and investment.
Despite the close ties between the two countries, bilateral trade volume has remained stagnant at 1.6 billion US dollars for several years.
South Korean Ambassador Lee Jang-Keun paid a call on Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi today where they discussed to strengthen bilateral ties in trade and investment.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Korea's export to Bangladesh decreased by 19.4 percent in 2020 and fell to 1.03 billion US dollars from 1.28 billion US dollars in 2019, said a press release that was sent from the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Bangladesh.
Whereas Bangladesh's export to Korea decreased by 2.9 percent and stood at 393 million US dollars in 2020 from 405 million US dollars in 2019.
While garment and textile, leather are major export items of Bangladesh, steel and machinery closely related to investment activities are the main export items from Korea to Bangladesh.
Both sides agreed to make efforts to diversify items of export and import.
Korea is providing duty and quota-free access to the Korean market to 95 percent of Bangladeshi products since 2012.
Ambassador Lee asked Munshi to lend assistance to the Korean companies which have invested in Bangladesh for their successful business operation in the country and provide foreign investors with favorable business environment.
He emphasised the importance of the success of KEPZ in attracting major investment by Korean companies.
As of 2020, Korea is the fifth largest investor in Bangladesh, after the US, UK, the Netherlands, and Singapore, with 1.17 billion US dollars of total accumulated stock investment, according to Bangladesh Bank data.
Korea is the largest foreign investor in EPZs with 75 companies operating in the EPZs.
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