PORIMOL PALMA

South Korea, like Bangladesh, was a poverty-afflicted country in the 1960s. Through its democratic governance, innovation and hard work of the people, it has now become a highly developed nation and supports other countries. Bangladesh is one of them. This year, the two countries are celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations. Ambassador Lee Jan-keun shared the details of the journey together with The Daily Star.

DS: You came to Bangladesh at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in July 2020, when South Korea made global headlines in providing healthcare. There were talks of a vaccine institute being established in Bangladesh. Where did it lose its way?

Lee: Any crisis creates opportunities. It was true for us too. I was happy that South Korea provided $150 million in soft loans to Bangladesh to help address the pandemic. I remember the discussion on setting up a vaccine institute and Bangladesh accessing International Vaccine Institute (IVI), headquartered in Korea. Later, Bangladesh accessed the IVI, which helped developing countries secure vaccines and conduct research and development. I’m sure, IVI can help Bangladesh in vaccine-related initiatives.

DS: Bangladesh and Korea’s bilateral trade is over $3 billion but heavily tilted towards South Korea. What can help Bangladesh increase its exports to Korea?

Lee: Since 2012, South Korea has been providing duty-free and quota-free access to more than 95 percent of products from Bangladesh, whereas Korean products face high tariffs here. Our bilateral trade has almost doubled after remaining stagnant at $1.6 billion for about a decade from 2011 to 2020. Now it has crossed the $3 billion mark.