State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir on Thursday urged South Korea to take concrete measures to boost imports of Bangladeshi goods and services and gradually reduce the trade imbalance. He also called for streamlining food-safety inspection and quarantine procedures for Bangladeshi agricultural, fishery and food products.
The state minister held separate meetings on Thursday with Hyejin Kwon, Deputy Minister for Trade Negotiation at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources of the Republic of Korea (ROK), and senior leadership of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in Seoul. The meetings focused on further strengthening Bangladesh-ROK cooperation in trade, investment, development cooperation and technology, among other areas, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The state minister sought Korea’s support for Bangladesh’s accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and invited greater Korean investment. He encouraged Korean conglomerates and SMEs to explore investment opportunities through joint investment promotion and government-to-government facilitation.
During his meeting with Deputy Minister Kwon, the state minister emphasized Bangladesh’s willingness to further enhance its longstanding cooperation with Korea and appreciated Korea’s role in Bangladesh’s economic transformation and industrial development. The state minister welcomed the successful conclusion of the Bangladesh-ROK Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in August 2026 and expressed the hope that it would serve as a gateway for Bangladesh to integrate more deeply into Korean and regional supply chains.
He also expressed hope that the agreement would be formally signed during the proposed visit of the President of the Republic of Korea to Bangladesh, following completion of the necessary domestic procedures. Deputy Minister Kwon welcomed the progress in Bangladesh-Korea economic relations and expressed Korea’s interest in further expanding bilateral trade, investment and industrial cooperation, including through the CEPA framework.
At a meeting with KOICA Vice-President Doh Young-Ah, the state minister expressed appreciation for KOICA’s longstanding contribution to Bangladesh’s socio-economic development through grant assistance, capacity building, technical cooperation and knowledge sharing. He thanked KOICA for its US$39 million Saemaul Plus End Poverty Program in Bangladesh and sought further cooperation in water security and climate resilience, skills development, employment-oriented technical education and digital health.
The state minister also expressed Bangladesh’s interest in moving the next phase of KOICA-Bangladesh cooperation towards larger-scale, integrated and transformative programs, including in digital transformation, artificial intelligence and digital public services. He requested early concurrence from the Korean side on financing for MRT projects in Dhaka, alongside the Asian Development Bank. The KOICA Vice-President welcomed Bangladesh’s interest in expanding development cooperation and expressed readiness to explore new areas and programs aligned with Bangladesh’s development priorities and Korea’s development cooperation experience.
Why it matters
Expanding trade and economic cooperation with South Korea supports Bangladesh's export growth and industrial development as it transitions from LDC status.