Korea pledges broader support to Bangladesh

South Korean Ambassador to Dhaka Lee Jang-keun on Thursday expressed strong support for the government and the people of Bangladesh in their fight against Covid-19.

The Korean government has pledged to provide an additional $800,000 worth of test kits.

Lee discussed the issues during separate meetings with Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam and Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen.

Through KOICA, Korea’s aid agency, Korea has provided PPE to nurses at the National Institute of Advanced Nursing Education and Research and emergency food to vulnerable residents in Mugda last month and is planning to donate PCR test kits and walk-through booths to the Ministry of Health in the coming weeks.

Bangladesh currently has more than 300,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and the health authorities say over 4,000 of the patients have died of Covid-19 since March.

Ambassador Lee emphasised his firm commitment to closer bilateral ties between Korea and Bangladesh, building up on the historic visit by Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon to Bangladesh in July 2019, which marked the first visit by a Korean Prime Minister to Bangladesh in 17 years.

Ambassador Lee said it is imperative that the two countries work closely on follow-up measures to deepen and expand the relationship in a variety of areas, including the rescheduling of the vice minister-level policy consultation meeting postponed earlier this year.

He said that the mutually beneficial relationship is evident in areas of investment and remittance in particular, adding that Korea ranks 6th in terms of accumulated FDI in Bangladesh with $1.1 billion and 12th in wage remittances by Bangladeshi expatriate workers.

The volume of bilateral trade reached around $1.7 billion last year and around 150 Korean companies are now investing in Bangladesh, according to Korean Embassy in Dhaka.