DHAKA: Outgoing Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Yun-young expected the solution of KEPZ issue without any bitterness.
He expressed this sentiment in an exclusive interview with banglanews. He further thought that the issue will not hamper the bilateral relations.
Resolution of this issue will set an example that will attract foreign investment, he added.
In 1999 Bangladesh government allotted 2,492.35 acres of land by the side of Karnaphuli River to Korea for investment. Korean nominated Youngone Corporation took initiatives of setting up an EPZ there after paying the price of land fixed by Bangladesh government.
However, now, the government has informed Youngone authority that it wants to take back 2,000 acres of land ‘as the company has failed to implement the schemes of setting up the EPZ’.
Ambassador Li also said, ‘This step by Bangladesh government would send a wrong signal to the foreign investors’. He also mentioned that Bangladesh would do better by joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) along with utilizing Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
The ambassador said that Bangladesh is moving forward and for more progress it is necessary to attract more foreign investment that would lead for creating success stories. For example, when the biggest Korean company had come to Bangladesh in 2012 for investment the KEPZ issue worked as a bad instance.
They turned back and invested in Vietnam. There they had set up a very big project where the income now stands at more than a billion USD. This instance has inspired other foreign investors to invest there.
This is why Bangladesh needs to ensure facilities for the foreign investors. “There must not be any instances like KEPZ. National image is an important thing for the country,” he added.
He informed that SAMSUNG again wants to come back here as it wants to set up more factories for the Smart Phone market in Asia. If it can come and build a factory here, it will have a positive impact on Bangladesh economy. At the same, that might be a success story for the country.
Ambassador Li Yun Yen further said that Bangladesh is going to be an emerging economic power of Asia. But the economy of this country is still isolated. As it wants to be a middle income country it should join the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership along with FTA. 
In 2006 Brunei, Chile, Singapore and New Zealand formed the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership. The aim of the agreement was to enhance trade among the sea bound countries. After two years USA, Canada, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam and some other countries joined the trade alliance. Then it was renamed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Li disclosed that the member countries are now considering the inclusion of India and Bangladesh in this trade alliance. But before that, he said, Bangladesh must improve the environment of investment.
After joining this alliance the South Korean economy got an extra boost, he added.
However, he thinks that before that the KEPZ issue must be resolved.
It is not a long time, Korea have crossed the situation that Bangladesh is currently passing through. The three-year long civil war, starting in 1950, destroyed the country’s economy. But in these days, Korea is one of the biggest economies of the world.
He also said that Korea will always remain by the side of Bangladesh in the future and help reach its goal. As for example Bangladesh is the second receiver of Official Development Assistance (ODA) of Korea.
Mentioning that some 14,000 Bangladeshis are currently working in Korea under Employment Permit System (EPS), he said his country is also providing assistance to Bangladesh in manpower sector. This quota will be increased in future. The workers get good salary there along with improved working environment. The average monthly income of the Bangladeshi workers is nearly 2,000 dollars which is higher than any Middle East countries.
Moreover, their wages are being paid as per labor law ensuring health services and fundamental rights without making victim of disparity.
Li Yun-young also mentioned that the Korean companies, working in Bangladesh, are involved with social responsibilities for the development of the people of this country.
BDST: 1932 HRS, SEP 04, 2015
Shahjahan/SR
