By Kim Se-jeong
Staff Reporter
A Bangladeshi government official said his country wants Korean carmakers to invest there.
Bangladesh guarantees Korean automobile industries a high margin of profit, convenient and low-cost facilities and a highly-skilled labor force, if they do business in the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA), said BEPZA Executive Chairman Jamil Ahmed Khan.
``We make parts for Japan's Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Hino and Mitsubishi, but no Korean automobiles. We have the capacity,'' he told The Korea Times during a five-day stay last week.
To date, no Korean automobile-related firm has gone to Bangladesh. His proposal seems to reflect the Bangladeshi government's endeavors to cultivate industries other than the textile industry that has been dominant in Bangladesh.
Eight export processing zones, scattered throughout Bangladesh including the capital Dhaka, have been designated by the government there to attract foreign investment.
Korea is the biggest investor in the zones. Of 267 foreign investors, 64 are Korean ― predominantly textile companies.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Korea is the No. 1 investor in Bangladesh's textile industry with 80 firms investing nearly $900 million nationwide last year.
Khan said the zones, designated and operated under the authorization of the central government, offer extensive benefits to foreign investors, regardless of their type.
``You can enter a BEPZA as a 100 percent foreign owned firm,'' Khan said unlike other countries where a joint venture with local firms is a prerequisite for entry.
Full repatriation of capital is permissible at any point in the investment period, Khan said. Also, the government waives work visas for those who come to work at the zones, which, he said, ``makes it easy for Korean investors.''
Khan was accompanied by Ashraf Abdullah Yussuf, a former executive of BEPZA, and they held investment seminars at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industries and at the Korea Federation of Textile Industries.
They visited the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Textile Industries Association and met members of the Small Business Corporation, encouraging small entrepreneurs to make Bangladesh their destination for investment.