South Korea ranks the fifth in foreign direct investment in Bangladesh. The country has been investing in four sectors. Of this, 600 million dollars have been invested in the software sector. It has also invested 400 million in BPO, 300 million in freelancing and 100 million dollars in related sectors including hardware network services. 1.4 billion in export earnings coming from these sectors. In such a situation, virtual desk – ‘Bangladesh IT Connect Portal – South Korea ‘ was launched to attract more investment.
The State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak inaugurated this portal virtually on Wednesday afternoon. Before this, Sabrina Tanzin, the representative of EDGE Project, presented details about this new initiative under the direction of Tanzim Bin Ahmed.
While speaking as the chief guest, Palak said that in the 51 years of independence, mutual cooperation in various fields including economy has taken the relationship between Bangladesh and Korea to a new height. The volume of trade between the two countries exceeded 3 billion US dollars for the first time in 2022, which is 38.71 percent more than the previous year. At the same time, Bangladesh exported 678 million US dollars to Korea, which is 22.9 percent more than the previous year.
Seeking Korea’s cooperation in achieving the goal of becoming a smart nation in 2041, Palak said, Korea ranks 5th in the world in foreign direct investment (FDI) and their investment in the IT sector in the future will be helpful for building a smart Bangladesh. By building Digital Bangladesh, the government has already created a conducive environment for investment in the IT sector. He urged Korean companies to invest in Bangladesh’s Hi-tech park and IT sector.
Palak said, in this era of the fourth industrial revolution, there is no alternative to make people skilled through technical and technology-based education and training. He suggested that Korea and Bangladesh jointly undertake a long-term skill development programme. And in this regard, KOTRA of the South Korean government and Bangladesh Embassy in the country will play a proactive role.
The State Minister requested South Korean companies to hire talented young people from Bangladesh and said that the Bangladeshis employed in global companies are working with reputation. South Korea can employ Bangladeshi youth through training in companies they operate in the country.
The Secretary of ICT Division Md. Samsul Arefin spoke among others at the web opening ceremony. The Ambassador of Bangladesh in South Korea M. Delwar Hossain, Bangladesh-Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) Director General Jong Won Kim, Startup Bangladesh Managing Director Sami Ahmed, EDGE Project Director Dr. Muhammad Mehedi Hasan, BASIS President Russell T Ahmed and Chief Operating Officer of Ulkasemi Mizan Rahman spoke on the occasion.
The virtual desk, established under the Bangladesh Computer Council’s (BCC) Enhancing Digital Government and Economy (EDGE) project under the Department of ICT and the Bangladesh Embassy in South Korea, will basically be a business-to-business (B2B) IT connectivity hub for Bangladesh and South Korea, which is the IT company of the two countries. Along with business connections, arranging interviews will play a role in bringing investment from the South Korean market.
In the event, it was informed that by launching the ‘Bangladesh IT Connect Portal – South Korea’ platform, the government has created four similar platforms in four countries so far. The platform will act as a catalyst in providing information required for investment and establishing connections between IT companies of the two countries. The platform has profiles of more than 80 companies in Bangladesh. In addition to increasing Korean investment in the country, unprecedented opportunities for expanding technology and BPO businesses will be created, which will pave the way for the development of the country’s digital and smart economy.