Dhaka sought cooperation from Seoul to ease the visa process so that Bangladeshi workers and students who came back to Bangladesh at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, could return to South Korea.
In a telephone conversation on Tuesday with his South Korean counterpart Kang Kyung-wha, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen detailed the plight of stranded workers and students and sought support to facilitate their return.
He also invited South Korea to establish a vocational training centre which could train Bangladeshi workers to suit the needs of Korean employers.
South Korean Minister Kang welcomed the idea and gave assurances of looking into the visa issue.
The two foreign ministers discussed bilateral, regional and global issues including the Covid-19 pandemic, bilateral cooperation, and the welfare of Bangladeshi workers and students.
They agreed to work together to realise the full potential of excellent bilateral relations.
Foreign Minister Momen lauded South Korea’s effective containment of the spread of Covid-19 and called for greater cooperation to combat the pandemic.
He apprised the South Korean minister of the current Rohingya situation.
South Korea’s foreign minister assured Bangladesh of support in working towards resolving the Rohingya crisis and for the early repatriation of more than a million Myanmar nationals displaced from their homes in Rakhine.