Photo: Metropolis –
Metropolis Report –
South Korea will give Bangladesh a soft loan worth 3.00 billion US dollars in the next five years to speed up the socio-economic development of the latter as both countries will celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations next year.
South Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jang-keun said this while speaking as the special guest at the ‘KOICA-Bangladesh Alumni Night -2022’ at a city hotel on Thursday night.
“Moreover, this year, the Korean government decided to significantly increase the amount of the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) funding to Bangladesh, from 0.7 billion to 3 billion US dollars over the next five years,” said Lee Jang-keun.
This decision will enable the Bangladesh government to implement large-scale infrastructure projects with EDCF. EDCF provides one of the lowest interest rates, between 0.01% and 0.05%, among foreign concessional loan programs, said the South Korean diplomat.
The rate of soft loans disbursed by South Korean government under the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) is much lower than the rate of soft loans disbursed by the International Monetary Bank (IMF) and World Bank (WB), he cited.
He also said that Bangladesh is currently the third largest recipient of Korea’s development assistance after the Philippines and Vietnam. In 2020, Korea’s ODA to Bangladesh was 113 million US dollars. But, this year or next year, Bangladesh is expected to be the second largest recipient of Korea’s ODA.
South Korea has provided 163 million US dollars in grants through KOICA with 39 projects, and a total of 1.34 billion US dollars was financed for 27 projects through Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) soft loans
Since 1989, Korea has provided nearly 1.6 billion US dollars in grant aid and concessional loan programs.
For the first time, this year the South Korean government provided 150 million dollars of budgetary support to the Bangladesh government through EDCF to help address the consequences of COVID-19 pandemic in the country, said Lee Jang-keun.
“It is a very encouraging development. In particular, our increased development assistance will help Bangladesh for smooth transition and graduation from the LDC in 2026,” he said.
“However, even though our two countries have enjoyed close and strong ties, there still is huge untapped potential. Our relations can surpass the level of Korea’s relations with other regional partner countries such as Vietnam and India, the third and eighth major trading partners of Korea,” mentioned Lee Jang-keun.
As the KOICA’s accomplishments testify, development cooperation has been a core pillar of Korea-Bangladesh relations during the past several decades, he pointed out.
“In all the places, I found big marks that KOICA has made and realized again the importance of KOICA in the Korea-Bangladesh friendship,” he mentioned.
Next year Korea and Bangladesh will celebrate together the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties.
“I strongly hope to make this anniversary a milestone year for the bright future of Korea-Bangladesh relations. From my side, I have many plans and ideas to make it happen. But it requires support and participation of all important stakeholders. And I hope that KOICA and KBAA are mindful of the importance and the meaning of next year’s anniversary and make meaningful plans of your own for the next year,” he added.
New Korea–Bangladesh Alumni Association (KBAA) President and Bangladesh Planning Commission Member Nasima Begum said that South Korean entrepreneurs gave the training to the Bangladeshi entrepreneurs in the textile and clothing sector in the early 80s that helped the country to become the second largest exporter of clothing in the world market now
Bangladesh bagged $52.08 billion through exports in fiscal year 2021-22, registering a 34.38% year-on-year growth, according to recent data by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).
This marked the first time in history that export earnings crossed the milestone of $50 billion.
Since its inception to power in 2009, State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak MP in his speech said that the government of Sheikh Hasina has been digitalizing the country with the support of the developed countries, specially by the South Korean government.
He also said that Startup Bangladesh, a flagship venture capital company of the ICT Division, will provide Taka five crore to a first ever re-commerce platform in Bangladesh – SWAP which is involved in business that has been reducing carbon emission and saving e-waste.
“Bangladesh has become a fertile land for startups and innovation, which has been, in fact, helping to create an environment conducive to the startup ecosystem,” said State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak MP while making comments on the booming startup sector.
“The government is a strong believer of innovation and technology, and we believe Startups are the change-makers and impact creators in society,” he said, adding that the government has established Startup Bangladesh Venture Capital Company to support these innovative Startups.
The ICT state minister said the flourishing of startups will help fulfill the government’s effort to build a ‘Smart Bangladesh by 2041’.
He said the local startup ecosystem is greatly influenced by prospective ventures like SWAP, with the right strategy and focus, SWAP will be able to make remarkable examples as successful and sustainable startups in the ecosystem.
Road Transport and Highways Division Secretary ABM Amin Ullah Nuri, Country Director of KOICA Bangladesh Office Youngah Doh and Additional Secretary, Wing Chief. (Asia, JEC and F&F) of Economic Relations Division Shahriar Kader Siddiky also spoke on the occasion.
