BD, Korea to execute 4 projects under PPP

Bangladeshi and South Korean private sector investors have selected four infrastructure projects, worth over US$ 10 billion, for implementation under public private partnership (PPP) initiative, said Foreign Minister Dr A K Abdul Momen on Thursday.
"We are hopeful that South Korean private sector investments in infrastructure sector would further improve our economic landscape to tap the potentials - beckoning us beyond 2026," he added.
The minister was speaking at a seminar - '50 Years of Korea-Bangladesh Relations: Trends and Directions' - at the Foreign Services Academy in the city.
"South Korea is one of the major trading partners of Bangladesh. The volume of our bilateral trade witnessed a record high in 2021, crossing $1.5 billion after almost 10 years of stagnation."
"We appreciate the South Korean government for giving preferential market access to Bangladeshi products, covering 95 per cent of tariff lines."
He hoped that South Korea would continue extending preferential market access to Bangladeshi products even after 2026, so that bilateral trade may continue to grow with favourable balance of trade between the two friendly countries.
The Republic of Korea is the fifth largest FDI source country for Bangladesh with an accumulated FDI stock of over $1.3 billion.
The Korean companies started investing in Bangladesh - mainly in textile and apparel sectors - in the early 1980's. Now they have started investing in diverse sectors, including leather and leather products, consumer electronics, mobile phones, home appliances, automobiles, ICT, and infrastructure.
Presently, more than 150 Korean companies have significant presence in Bangladesh.
The foreign minister urged public and private sectors of the two countries to work closely to further deepen bilateral cooperation for mutual benefit.
He informed that Bangladesh is one of the largest recipients of the South Korean soft loan as a priority partner country for official development assistance (ODA).
South Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jang-keun and Bangladesh Ambassador to South Korea Delwar Hossain were special guests at the seminar.
The South Korean ambassador said the current geopolitical situation, to some extent, is creating more opportunities than challenges to Bangladesh and South Korea for closer collaboration.
"Companies have realised the risks of geopolitical confrontations and the necessity of diversifying their investments and partners. In this situation, Bangladesh is increasingly becoming an attractive partner for the Korean companies."

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