Investment News

BIDA to facilitate South Korean investments in new sectors

Oct 25, 2020

South Korean businesses exploring opportunities in various Bangladeshi sectors will receive all-round support, BIDA Executive Chairman Md. Sirazul Islam has said.

He made the commitment during a courtesy call made by His Excellency Lee Jang-Keun, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea, at BIDA’s Agargaon office on Oct 25.

“South Korean companies are performing really well in our economy. We wish to facilitate more businesses from South Korean, including small and medium enterprises,” said the BIDA chief.

Investments from South Korea are changing, said H.E. Ambassador Lee. “Korean investments were at first focused on RMG. But it is diversifying into finance, construction, electronics, trading and more.”

The trade volume between Bangladesh and South Korea should be boosted beyond the current $3 billion, he said. “The current figure demonstrates that we have to work more to increase this volume. Honourable Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon’s visit to Dhaka last year is a testament of our readiness and willingness to work together,” he added.

The South Korean PM’s landmark visit in July, 2019 was marked by the signing of three deals, which included an MoU between BIDA and Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) for strengthening cooperation in the area of investment.

Korean businesses can add more value in RMG, ICT and electronics as well as in automobile and auto parts manufacturing, health-tech, light engineering and agro-processing, said the BIDA chief.

“Korean SMEs can also explore opportunities in life sciences and personal products, taking advantage of our large domestic market and rapidly rising consumer demand,” he added.

As the country’s apex investment promotion agency, BIDA will form an active partnership with the Embassy of the Republic of Korea for cooperation in investment promotion and facilitation, he told the ambassador.

Kim Choel-san, Deputy Chief of Mission, and Jong Won Kim, Director General of KOTRA, were present in the meeting along with BIDA directors -- Shah Mohammad Mahboob (Registration & Incentives Foreign Industry) and Ariful Hoque (Registration & Incentives/Commercial).