C T Online Desk: Director General of Korea Trade Association (KOTRA) and Commercial Counselor of Korea Embassy, Sam Soo Kim met Chittagong Chamber leaders for an exchange of views on March 30 at the Chamber’s office at the World Trade Center.
Chamber President Mahbubul Alam, Senior Vice President Tarafdar Md. Ruhul Amin, former Senior Vice President Omar Hajjaz and Director of Reliance Assets and Developments (BD) Ltd. Omar Muktadi spoke. Chamber directors Md Ahid Siraj Chowdhury (Swapan), Zahirul Islam Chowdhury (Alamgir), Anjan Shekhar Das and Mohammad Nasirul Alam (Fahim) were present among others.
Chamber President Mahbubul Alam said various mega projects are under implementation to make Chittagong one of the commercial hubs of South Asia. Although there are about 200 Korean institutions in Bangladesh, this number is very insignificant compared to Vietnam. Bangladesh exports 400 million and imports more than 1 billion dollars to Korea. As a result, there is a huge trade deficit between the two countries.In addition, Korea imports about $5 billion worth of processed meat and fish each year. Of this, $2 billion is shrimp and processed fish. Referring to the potential of shrimp from Bangladesh, he called for investment in the export of shrimp and processed fish from Bangladesh through Korean technical cooperation.Mr.Sam Soo Kim, of the Korean Embassy, said that the manufacturing sector plays a significant role in the export sector in Bangladesh. However, in the 80s, the Korean company provided the first technical assistance in the manufacturing sector in Bangladesh. In 1990, Korea moved away from traditional waste management and introduced modern waste management in order to generate electricity from waste.
