Momen seeks Korea’s support in improving ‘doing business

ZOOMBANGLA DESK: Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen today sought Seoul’s support in improving “ease of doing business” as currently South Korea is ranked the 4th in doing business index while Dhaka has been striving to elevate the trade to attract more foreign investment.

“While we (Bangladesh and South Korea) are observing the 50 years of bilateral relations, our South Korean friends may let us know how we do better in ease of doing business,” he said.

Improvement in easing doing business is one of the challenges in implementing Dhaka’s economic diplomacy ahead of Bangladesh’s formal graduation to middle-income country status from the least developed countries (LDC) group by 2026.

The minister was addressing a seminar titled, “50 years of Korea-Bangladesh Relationship” at the foreign service academy that showcased and discussed the study of Dhaka University on the past, present and future of the Korea-Bangladesh relationship in various areas of cooperation.

South Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jang-keun and Bangladesh Ambassador to South Korea Delwar Hossain also spoke as the special guests.

In his speech, Dr Momen also urged Seoul to share their knowledge in the completion of development projects in due time as South Korea is globally ranked as the number one country in ‘completion of contracts’ while delay in
project completion is a common phenomenon in Bangladesh.

The foreign minister thanked the South Korean government’s humanitarian support for the distressed Rohingyas and also for support at various international forums, including the UN General Assembly on this issue.

Momen noted that South Korea has a very good relationship with Myanmar as in the last few years the Korean investment package in Myanmar has been pretty significant.

Considering this, the foreign minister urged South Korea to take an extra initiative to put active action so that displaced Rohingyas can return to their homeland in Myanmar soon.

“You (South Korea) have some leverage on Myanmar, therefore, I request you to use that leverage (on Myanmar for Rohingya repatriation),” Momen said.

The minister said on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of bilateral relations, Dhaka is keen to elevate the ties with Seoul to new heights, forging a deeper comprehensive economic partnership based on common priorities with long-term perspectives.

“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.

Noting that South Korea is one of the major trading partners of Bangladesh with 1.5 billion US dollars in bilateral trade, Momen appreciated the South Korean government for preferential market access to Bangladeshi products
covering 95 per cent of tariff lines.

“We hope that the South Korean government would 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,” he said.

He said Bangladesh is one of the largest recipients of the South Korean soft loan as a priority partner country for ODA and hoped to remain a priority partner country even beyond its formal graduation to a developing country in 2026.

Momen said Korea is the fifth-largest FDI source country for Bangladesh with an accumulated FDI stock of over US$ 1.3 billion while currently, more than 150 Korean companies have a significant presence in Bangladesh.

Besides, he said, Bangladesh authorities and South Korean private investors have selected four infrastructure projects worth over US$ 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,” he said.

The foreign minister said Dhaka highly appreciates South Korea’s recent adoption of a climate roadmap to reduce the carbon intensity of its economy and its commitment to helping the developing countries in their transition to
low-carbon economies.

Md Ali Siddiquee, Md Anwarul Azim and Aditi Chakrovorty of Dhaka University (DU) presented separate papers while the Economic Relations Division additional secretary Md Shahriar Kader Siddiky, BIISS research director Dr Mahfuz Kabir and Associate professor of DU’s Mass Communication and journalism department Dr Saiful Hoque discussed on the presentation. (BSS)