Hon’ble State Minister of the Ministry of Shipping, Government of Bangladesh H.E. Mr. Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, MP led a 05 (Five) member delegation to the Republic of Korea from 27-30 August 2019.
During the visit, Hon’ble State Minister participated in a bilateral meeting with the Korean Minister of Ocean and Fisheries Mr. Moon Seong Hyeok. H.E. Ambassador of Bangladesh to the Republic of Korea Abida Islam, Chairman of the Chittagong Port Authority Mr. Zulfiqar Aziz and concerned senior officials of these two ministries in Bangladesh and the Republic of Korea were present during the meeting.
While emphasizing on strengthening the bilateral relationship between Bangladesh and the Republic of Korea, the Hon’ble State Minister also stressed on augmenting the existing relationship in the Shipping sectors of these two countries. Both sides then exchanged views on areas of mutual interest such as blue bio-technology, tidal energy, ocean safety, training in the Maritime sector and scopes for employment of Bangladeshi seafarers in the Korean fleet. The Hon’ble State Minister stated that the young and active population of Bangladesh has transformed the country to a huge and potential market for investment. He urged the Korean Minister to take this opportunity and invest in the shipping and deep sea fishing sectors there. In response, the Korean Minister assured him to extend all the necessary assistance on the issues discussed in the meeting and expressed keen interest to invest in shipping and port development sectors of Bangladesh. Before the meeting the Hon’ble State Minister for Shipping visited the new transshipment port as well as the old port in Busan and discussed issues related to the development of ports with the senior officials there.
It is expected that the visit of the State Minister of Shipping to the Republic of Korea and the bilateral meeting with his Korean counterpart will further boost up the bilateral shipping relations and also the bilateral engagement in the coming days.