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South Koreans keen to invest in SMEs

20-member ROK business delegation in city

STAR BUSINESS REPORT
South Korean small and medium enterprise (SME) entrepreneurs now in a three-day 'matchmaking mission' in Dhaka yesterday expressed deep interest in expertise exchange and making investment in the sector.
"Bangladesh has a potential SME sector and if entrepreneurs bank on cheap labour and low technology, it can be a springboard for Bangladesh's run to heavy industry," said Park Youn-kook, mayor of Korean SME-dominated Poncheon city.
The mayor, who is leading a 20-member business delegation, in an interview with The Daily Star yesterday said the visiting Korean entrepreneurs in one-to-one meeting with their Bangladeshi counterparts found prospects to form joint ventures in the sector.
"With Bangladesh having huge SME infrastructure, we both can cooperate in the promising sector. The entrepreneurs have fruitful talks and the details of the cooperation will be worked out later," he said.
Korean entrepreneurs take great interest in the export processing zones (EPZs) in Bangladesh, he said mentioning that Korea is the largest investor in the EPZs.
On export to South Korea, the
mayor said,"Quality is our prime concern and if Bangladesh manufacturers can produce high quality goods they have a fair chance to export to Korea."
He said about 1,000 Bangladeshis are working in Poncheon city and contributing to industrial growth in South Korea. "Bangladesh workers are reputed for their hard work and skills," said the mayor who came to Bangladesh on second leg of his South Asian business tour from India.
Located in the middle of the Korean peninsula, the 826 square km city is also a major tourist spot. Every year about one million domestic and international tourists visit the city, a one-hour drive from capital, Seoul.
"With the experience of hosting the huge tourist, we can also help develop Bangladesh's tourism sector," the mayor said.
He also welcomed Bangladeshi students to Poncheon, which has reputed engineering and IT institutions. "We will also allow students to work here," the mayor added.
Poncheon has 1540 SMEs and emerged as a major SME city in early 1990s producing allied food, household items, toys, beverages, sewing thread, fabrics, carpet, leather products, automobiles and other industrial parts and chemical products.