Bangladesh and South Korea have a partnership in the apparel and textile sector. They have identified innovation, diversification and technological upgradation as the key strategic priorities for their future growth.

The collaboration also seeks to promote direct or joint venture investments from South Korea to Bangladesh in high-end garment items, non-cotton textiles, woven textiles and garments, and skills development and innovation.

South Korea is one of the emerging markets for Bangladesh, which aims at hiking apparel exports to South Korea. South Korea currently sources 34 per cent of its apparel items from China, but due to rising costs, apparel production is increasingly moving out of China, and Bangladesh’s entrepreneurs now have an opportunity to capture the South Korean market. Bangladesh’s apparel shipments to South Korea have experienced a positive growth over the past five years despite the pandemic-led slowdown. But a big push will be taken this year to capture a bigger share of the South Korean marketwith diversified items such as underwear, denims, shirts, jackets and pullovers as South Korea has a great demand for high-value winter clothing and denim. Other potential products that have good demand in the country include non-leather footwear, home textiles, jute and jute products etc.