StanChart launches Korea-Bangladesh desk

Standard Chartered Bangladesh (SCB) on Thursday launched the Korea- Bangladesh desk to help Korean businesses invest and operate in Bangladesh. 

A guidebook titled "Doing business in Bangladesh", offering information in both Korean and English languages, was also launched at the event at The Dhaka Westin, the bank said in a statement yesterday.

MA Mannan, planning minister, attended the event as chief guest. 

The bank will be able to offer its Korean clientele the most extensive network among international banks in Bangladesh combined with strong presence in South Korea, the statement added.

The desk will also offer a comprehensive product suite covering cash management, trade services, securities services and digital banking; financial risk management products; project finance and other specialised financing solutions; regulatory support and market insights.

"South Korea was one of the earliest investors in Bangladesh, and remains the largest investor in our textile and RMG sectors, accounting for more than a quarter of the sector's FDI stock," said Naser Ezaz Bijoy, CEO of SCB.

Korea's investments remain concentrated in a few sectors, meaning that the Asian economic giant has a significant potential to pour their money into other sectors, such as infrastructure, ship building and light engineering, he added.

He said South Korea's total imports increased by around three times between 2000 and 2018, while imports from Bangladesh grew by a factor of 15, Bijoy said. 

"Yet, while we are on the upward curve, this still represents just 0.06 percent of South Korea's total imports. We hope that initiative, such as this Korea-Bangladesh corridor desk, side by side with government efforts to improve ease of doing business and development of Korea-focused export processing zones, will build new bridges between these two age-old friends."

Md Sirazul Islam, executive chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority; Md Alkama Siddiqui, CEO of Public Private Partnership Authority; and Major General SM Salahuddin Islam, executive chairman of Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority, were present at the event.