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Korean investment hinges on govt nod for KEPZ

Says South Korean chamber

STAR BUSINESS REPORT
The South Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI) say that the Koreans are waiting for the government to remove the impasse of operating licence for the Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) so that they can invest more in Bangladesh.
"We want to invest in Bangladesh. You do not have to woo us. We are ready to be your partners in creating wealth and employment opportunities," says Kihak Sung, KEPZ chief and leader of a 35-member team of the KCCI, in a statement made to The Daily Star.
The KCCI team, consisting of top entrepreneurs of Korea, was supposed to visit Bangladesh on September 28 to participate in a business seminar organised by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI). However, the seminar had to be cancelled at the last moment due to the wildcat strike of
Bangladesh Biman on September 27.
KEPZ sources said that the KCCI team's plan was to visit India, Pakistan and Bangladesh to explore new investments. While the team visited India and Pakistan, they could not come to Bangladesh. Other than participating in the seminar, the team was supposed to visit Dhaka and Chittagong export processing zones.
Kihak Sung in his statement said while the two countries share some common features such as lack of resources and huge population, both the countries achieved success in the garments sector through partnership, adding that the business relation between Korea and Bangladesh has grown over the past 25 years.
"My company Youngone was the first of the early investors (in Bangladesh) in the apparel industry efforts. We have been successful and growing over these 25 years to employ 35,000 persons and now we are the
largest exporter of the country," he said.
" Most Korean investors in Bangladesh are within the export processing zones. These zones have proven to be the appropriate approach to investment in labour intensive export oriented industries. My experience indicates that the foreign investors face a number of problems that are very difficult to solve within the domestic tariff area," he said referring to the problems regarding labour unions, land and customs.
"During the 1995 visit of the Bangladesh prime minister to Korea, the question was posed how can the volume of investment from Korea be increased? The conclusion reached by the two governments was that a special export processing zone should be developed, owned and operated by a private company to attract Korean and other investors. The existing EPZs were filling up, it was felt better carried by the private sector, and there were advan-
tages in marketing for investors to have a national orientation to the zone," Sung said describing how the idea of KEPZ was conceived.
Later on, Youngone submitted a proposal for the KEPZ and the government passed the necessary legislation for such private EPZ. Youngone purchased land by 1999 for a zone of almost 2500 acres.
"Unfortunately the licence to operate the zone has not been issued and so the joint agreement of the prime minister of Bangladesh and the president of Korea has yet been fulfilled," Sung pointed out.
Korean investors can provide Bangladesh with investment resources, technology, export oriented investments and thereby create hundreds of thousands of jobs, he said. "We worked with you to do this in the garment sector and we are confident that there are many more opportunities in other sectors too," Sung added.