The bilateral trade volume between Korea and Bangladesh has reached another record high in 2022 exceeding $3 billion.
According to the statistics of the Korea International Trade Association, the bilateral trade volume in 2022 recorded $3.035 billion, a 38.71% increase from 2021 which was $2.188 billion.
Bangladesh's export to Korea increased by 22.9% to $678 million in 2022 from $552 million in the previous year while Korea's export to Bangladesh rose by 44.1% with $2.357 billion in 2022 from $1.636 billion in 2021.
Bangladesh's export to Korea has been continuously increasing since it crossed for the first time $100 million in 2007 and reached $200 million in 2011 and $300 million in 2013.
But it had remained stagnant for about a decade thereafter and shrank by 2.9% in 2020 recording $393 million due to the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, it witnessed a big rebound in 2021 to $552 million with a sharp increase of 40.4% year-on-year and recorded another record high of $678 million in 2022 with a 22.9% year-on-year increase.
The main export items of Bangladesh to Korea are RMG, sports and leisure items and bronze scraps, etc.
RMG which accounts for 83.2% of total export to Korea recorded $564 million in 2022, increasing 25.8% year-on-year, while paper products and food skyrocketed by 168.6% and 165% with $3.6 million and $3.1 million respectively.
The export of bronze scrap rose by 41.8% with $17.76 million.
Korea's export to Bangladesh which peaked at $1.63 billion in 2011 fell sharply and hovered at $1.2 billion for almost one decade.
In 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, it further deepened to $1.03 billion in 2020.
2021 after a decade of stagnation, it finally rebounded to $1.636 billion in 2021, increasing 58.3% year-on-year and to $2.357 billion in 2022 with a 44.1% year-on-year increase.
However, the increase in Korea's export to Bangladesh in 2021 and 2022 was mainly led by the hike in Bangladesh's import of diesel from Korea which rose by 703.8% to $972 million in 2022.
Korea's export of diesel to Bangladesh rose by 450% in 2021 to $121 million.
While other major export items of Korea to Bangladesh are machinery, petrochemical products, steel and pesticides, etc., they all saw a decrease in 2022.
It appears to be mainly due to the import restrictions imposed by the Bangladesh Government due to the foreign reserves situation in the country in the aftermath of the Ukraine-Russian war.
Ambassador Lee said that the year 2023 which marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Korea and Bangladesh will mark a momentous turning point in the bilateral ties between the two countries overcoming the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and global economic challenges derived from the Russian-Ukraine war.
He also hoped that Bangladesh's business sector takes advantage of the preferential trade policy of Korea which provides duty and quota-free access to the Korean market for 95 % of Bangladesh products since 2008.
Export to Korea, a non-traditional market, will also be given the benefit of receiving at least 4% of cash incentives by the Bangladesh government.