The Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) Hi-Tech park will play a significant role in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to Bangladesh, said State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak on Wednesday.

"Korea is a pioneer country to invest in Bangladesh and has extended and enhanced its cooperation beyond textile to ICT, energy, blue economy, climate change and infrastructure development for over 45 years," he said.

Palak made the remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony of the KEPZ Hi-Tech Park mentioning that the collaboration between Bangladesh and South Korea goes a long way.

The Hi-Tech Park was jointly inaugurated by State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak and South Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jang-keun with the physical presence of Kihak Sung, Chairman & CEO of Youngone Corp & KEPZ.

It was a remarkable day for KEPZ in the field of Hi-Tech industrial development, said the Youngone Corp adding that the vision of the company to establish a state-of-the-art Hi-Tech park is coming to a reality.

Also read: S Korea sees brighter ties with Bangladesh with multifarious success stories: Envoy

The ceremony was also attended by Jimmy Kim, Co-founder and Partner at SparkLabs Global Ventures, a venture capital fund based in California and also cofounder and president of N3N which serves numerous fortune 500 companies and governments.  Tina Jabeen, Managing Director and CEO of Startup Bangladesh Limited, was also present

The State Minister said Korea currently ranks 6th in providing FDI to Bangladesh and more than 200 Korean companies are there in the country.

Ambassador Lee said Korea is going to open a new chapter of the business relations with Bangladesh by taking off their previous tradition corporations and moving into a new corporation focusing on High-Tech Park and ICT.

Kihak Sung said while Youngone Corp is investing massively in MMF projects to supply the country's RMG Export sector, they are now ready to make significant contributions to ICT industries, Startup ventures by providing infrastructure and investment. In Particular, they will be seeking Korean help in this respect, he said. 

Also read: KEPZ textile zone can transform Bangladesh’s textile business: Youngone Chairman

Jimmy Kim mentioned that with all the facilities the future of the zone is promising, they will be providing support to the startup ecosystem of Bangladesh by connecting foreign investors with local startups, developing incubation centers and accelerators.

The Youngone Corp said KEPZ Hi-Tech Park will have a 41-storey IT building which will house a number of software development facilities which will help create job opportunities for up to 20,000 people.

The park will also have universities, schools and a community complex with service apartments.

The existing factories at KEPZ have employed huge local workers, mostly women.

Also read: Bangladesh, Korea to explore untapped potential

On full completion of it, the zone will create direct employment opportunities for 100,000 people with at least 300,000 indirect employment.

Youngone Corporation is setting up its first IT-related infrastructure/facilities for its sister concern “Tekvision (BD) Limited” in the Hi-Tech Park.

This company will produce/develop all kinds of software, industrial digitalization, data entry and outsourcing with an estimated investment worth USD 200 million successively.

The structure and facilities of the Hi-Tech park is designed in a way to make workspaces efficient and economic.

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This should attract startup companies who can explore their venture out of an economic premise.

Startup bootcamps and accelerator programmes will be organised to support strengthening start-up ecosystems and through upskilling entrepreneurs in Bangladesh.

KEPZ has so far completed 40 state-of-the-art green factories with a floor space of over 65,00,000 sft.