Park Young-sik, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Bangladesh, paid a farewell visit to Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus at the State Guest House Jamuna in Dhaka on Wednesday, marking the end of his diplomatic tenure in Bangladesh.
During the meeting, Ambassador Park expressed his condolences and "deep sorrow" for the deaths of six Bangladeshi peacekeepers in a recent drone attack on a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping base in Sudan's Abyei region.
The ambassador also expressed his best wishes for Bangladesh's democratic transition, hoping that the country would hold a free, fair, and peaceful election on February 12.
Both sides discussed ways to strengthen Bangladesh-South Korea relations, such as attracting more Korean investment in Bangladesh, the status of a planned comprehensive economic agreement, human capital investment, and increased cultural exchanges between the two friendly countries.
Chief Adviser Professor Yunus congratulated Ambassador Park on his successful tenure and thanked him for his contributions to strengthening bilateral relations.
He stated that Bangladesh has implemented a number of reforms to attract foreign direct investment into the country.
The Chief Adviser stated that the interim government has resolved a long-standing issue regarding the Korean Export Processing Zone in Chattogram and expressed hope that this will attract leading South Korean companies to Bangladesh.
In response, Ambassador Park stated that Korean electronics giant Samsung is now eager to expand its operations in Bangladesh, including increasing mobile phone production in the country.
He added that the two countries expect to resume negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in February, paving the way for duty-free access for Bangladeshi goods, particularly ready-made garments, to the South Korean market, one of the world's largest economies.
The ambassador stated that Bangladeshi garments currently account for less than 5% of clothing imports into South Korea, a market dominated by exports from Vietnam and Indonesia.
He stated that goods from the two Southeast Asian countries have duty-free market access to Korea under bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements.
Recalling the two countries' strong cultural and people-to-people ties, the Chief Adviser suggested that South Korea consider opening more training centres, particularly language institutes, to improve the skills and employability of Bangladeshi youth.
Lamiya Morshed, the SDG Coordinator and Senior Secretary, was also present at the meeting.
