South Korean Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lim Sang Woo has expressed optimism that the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between two friendly countries would be signed at the soonest.
Once signed, he hoped the CEPA would take the bilateral relations beyond the area of free trade, encompassing services, investment, and industrial collaboration.
Speaking at a reception in Seoul on Tuesday, the Korean Deputy Minister expressed the willingness of the Korean government to work with the newly elected government of Bangladesh and to expand bilateral cooperation based on mutual respect and trust.
He also expressed satisfaction over the current level of cooperation encompassing all possible areas.
The Embassy of Bangladesh in Seoul hosted the reception on the occasion of the Independence and National Day of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh at a local hotel in Seoul, with due dignity and enthusiasm.
Ambassadors, Heads of Missions, high dignitaries from the Korean Foreign Ministry and other ministries and agencies, Korean investors and business representatives, journalists, academia and distinguished members of the Bangladesh community living in South Korea, attended the reception, said the Bangladesh Embassy in Seoul on Wednesday.
Bangladesh Ambassador Toufiq Islam Shatil, in his statement, paid deep tribute to the supreme sacrifices of 3 million martyrs and the valiant freedom fighters during our Liberation War in 1971.
He highlighted the continuous deep engagement of Bangladesh and the Republic of Korea in all sectors especially in infrastructure development, textiles, electronics, automobiles and people to people contacts over the last 50 years.
The Ambassador also highlighted Bangladesh’s interest in expanding our bilateral political, economic and people-to-people ties with the Republic of Korea, in the context of the existing geopolitical landscape, on the basis of mutual respect and shared interests.
The Bangladesh Ambassador said the new democratically elected Government in Bangladesh, under the able leadership of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, is working relentlessly, in coordination of their international partners, to take the country towards the next level of development while ensuring social harmony, rule-based system, good governance and economic stability.
A cultural program was arranged with the participation of Bangladeshi and Korean artists; where a number of patriotic poetry recitation, songs and dance performances were presented.