South Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Park Young-sik has laid emphasis on taking bold steps for a stronger ties, eyeing next 50 years journey together with Bangladesh.

"Let's renew our commitment to each other and take a bold step forward for a closer, deeper, stronger, and brighter future," he said.

Speaking at a receception on Thursday night marking National Day of Korea, the envoy said the two countries cherished their close ties for the past 50 years, and he hope that everyone will join hands to start the next 50-year journey in the friendship between Korea and Bangladesh.

Over the last 5 decades, the ambassador said, the two countries have witnessed a remarkable journey of cooperation in various sectors, including trade, investment, development, and people-to-people exchanges.

Substantial bilateral relations began with the inception of Bangladesh’s RMG industry, he said.

It is a well-known story that the partnership between Bangladesh Desh Garment and Korean company Daewoo Corporation in 1979 planted the seed of Bangladesh’s RMG industry.

Since then, Korean garment enterprises have made great contributions to the rapid growth of Bangladesh’s RMG industry, which accounts for over 85% of the country's total exports.

Korea's investment in Bangladesh has become the fourth largest in terms of accumulated amount.

"Notably, there has been an increase in investment in manufacturing industries such as automobiles, mobile phones, and consumer electronic goods through joint ventures with local partners," said the ambassador.

These companies are creating good quality jobs through domestic production.
The success story in Korean investment is the establishment of the first country-specific private Export Processing Zone, KEPZ, in Chattogram.

The KEPZ is currently exporting roughly 1.25 billion USD and employing 70,000 workers.

"I hope that the KEPZ will continue to serve as a flagship symbol of the Korea-Bangladesh business ties," said the ambassador.

Current bilateral trade between Korea and Bangladesh stands at approximately $2.6 to $3 billion.

The two nations agreed to start the negotiation of bilateral Economic Partnership Agreement.

This EPA will further enhance trade and investment in mutually beneficial ways, he said.

The great Bengali poet and the first Asian Nobel Laureate, Rabindrantah Tagore, wrote a poem in 1929 for the Koreans, calling Korea as “the Lamp of the East.”

"That poem gave inspiring courage and determination to the Korean people. With Tagore's inspiring and shared values of democracy and market economy, Bangladesh and Korea have cultivated mutually excellent relations across all fields," said the Ambassador.