On the auspicious occasion of the 50th anniversary of bilateral relations, Bangladesh seeks to elevate the relationship with South Korea to new heights, forging “a deeper comprehensive economic partnership based on common priorities with long-term perspectives”.
“I believe unflinching political commitment from both sides and regular high-level consultations are highly essential to this end,” Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said on Thursday.
He was speaking at a seminar on “50 Years of Korea-Bangladesh Relationship: Presentation of the Dhaka University Study” at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.
Korean Ambassador in Dhaka Lee Jang-keun, Bangladesh Ambassador in Seoul M Delwar Hossain, and Founder and Director of The East Asia Study Center of the University of Dhaka Prof Dr. Delwar Hossain also spoke at the seminar.
The seminar was organised based on the Dhaka University Study ‘Bangladesh-South Korea Relations: Trends and Directions’.
Korea recognised Bangladesh as an independent state on 12 May
1972, months after victory on December 16, 1971. Bangladesh and Korea established diplomatic relations on 18 December 1973.
“Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, our two countries have been enjoying excellent bilateral relations based on shared values, mutual respect, and common aspirations,” the foreign minister said.
“In last five decades, our bilateral collaboration has expanded to a wide range of areas, including trade and commerce, investment, development cooperation, education and human resource development, ICT, defence, and cultural exchanges. Currently, the RMG sector is our pride and it started with Korean assistance in 1979.”
After taking office in January 2009, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid an official visit to Korea in May 2010 and the two sides expressed firm commitment to further strengthen the Comprehensive Partnership between our two friendly countries.
The official visit of then Prime Minister of Korea Lee Nak-yon to Bangladesh in July 2019 created a momentum for a comprehensive economic partnership between our two countries, Dr Momen said.
The Republic of Korea has remained a major development partner of Bangladesh for a long time.
“We note with appreciation that Bangladesh is one of the largest recipients of the South Korean soft loan as a priority partner country for ODA, and hope to remain a priority partner country even beyond our formal graduation to a developing country in 2026,” said the foreign minister.
South Korea is one of the major trading partners of Bangladesh.
The volume of the bilateral trade witnessed a record high in 2021 crossing 1.5 billion US dollars after almost 10 years of stagnation.
“We appreciate the South Korean government for preferential market access to Bangladeshi products covering 95% of tariff lines. We hope that the South Korean government will continue to extend preferential market access to our products even after 2026 so that bilateral trade may continue to grow with a favourable balance of trade between our two friendly countries,” Dr Momen said.
The Republic of Korea is the fifth largest FDI source country for Bangladesh with an accumulated FDI stock of over $1.3 billion.
Although the Korean companies started investing in Bangladesh in the early 1980’s mainly in textile and apparel sectors, Korean investors have now started investing in diverse sectors, including leather and leather products, consumer electronics, mobile phones, home appliances, automobiles, ICT, infrastructure, etc. Presently, more than 150 Korean companies have significant presence in Bangladesh.
“It is also a matter of satisfaction that Bangladesh authorities and South Korean private investors have selected four infrastructure projects worth over $10 billion for implementation under the PPP model.”
“We are hopeful that South Korean private investments in our infrastructure sector would further improve our economic landscape to tap the potentials beckoning us beyond 2026. I would like to encourage relevant public and private sectors of our two countries to work closely to further deepen our cooperation for mutual benefits,” he said.
“Cooperation between Bangladesh and the Republic of Korea in the multilateral fora has been excellent.”
The foreign minister said Bangladesh strongly believes in the centrality and legitimacy of the UN as the custodian of global peace, security and development. Our commitment to international peace is manifest through our flagship UNGA Resolution on ‘Culture of Peace and Non-violence’. Our peace leadership is further reaffirmed through our support to the UN as a top troops and police contributing country in its peacekeeping endeavours. We appreciate South Korea’s strong commitment to promoting international peace and security through participating in UN’s peace and security activities.
As the Chair of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) and V20, we are promoting the interests of climate-vulnerable countries. We appreciate and welcome the firm commitment and growing role of the Republic of Korea on global climate change issues. Bangladesh highly appreciates South Korea’s recent adoption of a climate roadmap to reduce the carbon intensity of its economy and its commitment to help the developing countries in their transition to low-carbon economies.
“We are thankful to the South Korean government’s humanitarian support for the distressed Rohingyas and also for support at various international fora, including in the UN General Assembly, on this issue.
“We urge the international community, including the South Korean government, to keep pressure on Myanmar for addressing the Rohingya plight and bringing in a peaceful resolution of the protracted crisis for the security and development in the region.
“As we cross the milestone of fifty years of friendship, I am confident that together we can build a peaceful and prosperous future for all,” he said in his speech.