Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged her visiting South Korean counterpart Lee Nak-yon to engage with Myanmar for an early, and peaceful solution to the Rohingya crisis.
She said the crisis poses a threat to regional stability, and peace.
“The displacement of Rohingyas from Myanmar to Bangladesh has posed risks to peace, and stability of our region,” Bangladesh premier’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim quoted her as saying during the talks with Lee Nak-yon, reports BSS.
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The premier said Dhaka expected Korea to “engage with Myanmar for an early, and peaceful solution to the crisis,” and insisted that sustained international pressure, and engagement were needed to substantiate Bangladesh’s efforts.
Karim said the South Korean premier in reply said: “Anything we can do, we will do.”
He said the two premiers led their respective sides at the 40-minute meeting in the Prime Minister’s Office, where issues of trade, commerce, investment, technical cooperation, and the Rohingyas were discussed.
Sheikh Hasina said, Myanmar until now has failed to create a conducive environment in Rakhine, thus barring the expected return of the Rohingyas.
“If the displaced Rohingyas are assured safety, dignity, and access to their land and property, they will be encouraged to go back to Myanmar,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina, however, expressed her gratitude to South Korea for supporting the adoption of a resolution on the situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, at the UN General Assembly in November 2018.
“We also appreciate Korea’s humanitarian aid for the Rohingyas,” she said as her Korean counterpart highly praised Bangladesh for hosting a huge number of Rohingyas.
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The premier’s press secretary said, business issues largely featured in the talks when Sheikh Hasina said the bilateral trade was heavily tilted towards Korea, and called upon Seoul to allow duty-free market access for all Bangladeshi products without any exception.
“To narrow down the trade imbalance, we request you to consider allowing duty-free market access for all of our exports, without any exception,” Sheikh Hasina said.
The prime minister said Korea might import woven garments, pharmaceuticals, knitwear, jute products, leather goods, frozen food, and ceramic items from Bangladesh.
Lee Nak-yon, on the other hand, said his government would consider Bangladesh’s proposal for duty-and quota-free access of its goods to South Korea.
The South Korean prime minister termed Bangladesh as a “potential country” with a huge investment opportunity while his country earmarked $1 billion for Bangladesh as overseas development assistance (ODA).
Sheikh Hasina said, Korea has substantial investment in textiles, tanneries and footwear factories in Bangladesh’s EPZs, and recalled that Korean companies were “the first to invest in the RMG sector in Bangladesh during my first term in 1996-2001.”
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The Bangladesh premier said Korea may invest in “Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar” which is the most potential investment hub for the investors under G2G, and PPP model.
Extending heartfelt congratulations to Korea for becoming the 12th largest economy of the world with a GDP of $1.619 trillion, she said: “We welcome the continuing interests of South Korea to invest in Bangladesh.”
The prime minister said Korea turned out to be one of Bangladesh’s emerging development partners with economic and technical cooperation in health, ICT, education, water treatment, energy, and transport sectors.
“Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica) is making important contributions to our health, education, and social welfare sectors as well,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina appreciated the Korean fund for the improvement of the reliability and safety of national highway corridors by Intelligent Transport System (ITS) while “Koica’s support to human resource development of Bangladesh civil service is praiseworthy.”
The premier acknowledged Korea Telecom’s support in establishing digital connectivity in Maheshkhali Island, and added “Korean investment in different Hi-Tech parks in Bangladesh is highly welcome.”
Sheikh Hasina sought Korea’s co-operation in setting up e-waste recycling plant, introducing Korean language learning program at Sheikh Russel digital Lab, and establishing digital security agency.
In response, the Korean prime minister said they are interested to work together with Bangladesh in the fields of energy, ICT, and defence.
