South Korea focusing on ICT industry in Bangladesh: ambassador

South Korean Ambassador in Dhaka Hu Kang-il has said that his country is now turning its attention to the development of Bangladesh's ICT sector.

“South Korea is the first country to invest in Bangladesh's readymade garment sector and is still one of them. We are now interested in ICT,” he said at a reception he hosted on Tuesday night to mark the East Asian country's National Foundation Day.

One of Bangladesh's strongest development partners, Korea opened its embassy in Dhaka in early 1975, more than a year after the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1973.

Later, Korean entrepreneurs came to Bangladesh to set up garment factories, many of whom are still active.

A World Bank development report said the boom of Bangladesh’s readymade garment industry that wheels its economy is because of initial training from Korean Daewoo Corporation in 1979 when Bangladesh had no modern industry.

The corporation teamed up with Bangladesh’s Desh Ltd and trained up its 130 newly-recruited and educated employees who later left Desh to start their own clothing businesses for the industry to flourish.

Readymade clothes are now the largest export earners for Bangladesh.

Korea supports Bangladesh through grants, soft loans and technical cooperation and the ongoing country strategy, 2016 to 2020, of its development arm, KOICA, is mostly focused on health, education, transportation and ICT.

The ambassador said Korea will “always be side by side with Bangladesh as a sincere friend in promoting trade and investment.”

He said Bangladesh has achieved tremendous economic success in the last 10 years.

“I applaud Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's leadership for the development of the country. Under her leadership, we hope that Bangladesh will become a middle-income country within 2041.”

State Minister for Information and Communications Technology Junaid Ahmed Palak, who was present as the chief guest, said, “Bangladesh always values diplomatic relations with South Korea very seriously”.

“Bangladesh got Korea on its side. The friendly relations between the two countries reached a new level with the South Korean prime minister's visit to Bangladesh this July,” he said.