The following is a message from Bangladesh Ambassador Enamul Kabir on the occasion of the 42nd anniversary of the independence and national day of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. ― Ed.

On the occasion of the 42nd anniversary of the independence and national day of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, I convey my warm greetings to the government and the friendly people of the Republic of Korea. I also convey my heartiest congratulations to my fellow Bangladeshi citizens living in this country.

As we celebrate this auspicious day, we remember with profound respect the founding father of the nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who proclaimed the independence of Bangladesh. We pay our deepest homage to the 3 million martyrs of the War of Liberation and to the valiant freedom fighters who risked their lives to achieve the independence of the country and turn its condition in a way that we could live in freedom, with dignity and honor.

During the last 42 years, we have made significant strides in attaining the objectives that were envisioned by the freedom seeking nation. Bangladesh today is a democratic polity that upholds the freedom and dignity of all of its citizens. Our economy is growing steadily at a rate of more than 6 percent for last two decades. Starting from scratch in 1971, we walked a long way forward where the size of GDP in PPP terms grew to the present level of $282 billion and the same would stand at $458 billion by 2017, as the IMF estimates.

The gradual economic development made it possible for the country to provide better education to our children, more jobs to our youths, improved health care and a decent life for all our citizens. Social indicators have seen enormous positive changes e.g. life expectancy at birth increased from 47 in 1972 to 69 in 2011, the infant mortality rate came down from 169 to 37 in the last 20 years, absolute poverty has fallen by 30 percent in the last 20 years, school enrollment is more than 90 percent, and gender equality is high in the global ranking.

During the same time, Bangladesh has established itself as a responsible member of the international community. Bangladesh remains at the forefront of global efforts in upholding international peace and stability, most notably through its active participation in the U.N. peacekeeping and peace-building missions worldwide as the top troop-contributing country.

Bangladesh has made a commendable transition from a predominantly aid-dependent economy to a trading nation, with the share of aid coming down from about 6 percent of GDP in the 1980s to less than 2 percent lately; Bangladesh has become the second-largest exporter of apparel in the world; our shipbuilding, footwear, pharmaceuticals, ICT and other nontraditional exports are showing encouraging signs; achieving self-sufficiency in food grains is at our door step; our economy demonstrated impressive resilience in the face of multiple global and financial crises. With an expanding domestic market and favorable factors of production, Bangladesh offers vast opportunities for investment and trade.

As we celebrate our independence and national day in Korea, it is also a moment when we celebrate the excellent relationship that exists between Bangladesh and the Republic of Korea. This year we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations with Korea. During these 40 years, our two countries enjoyed excellent bilateral relations.

Our bilateral relations are shaped primarily by political goodwill, commonality of views, commitment to peace, and economic and commercial interests. Our two countries maintain strong cooperation in the areas of trade and investment, development cooperation and technology transfer, employment and human resource development, education and cultural exchange. Annual trade volume has been growing gradually and is now nearing $2 billion. Korea is a significant investor in Bangladesh. Since the beginning of the 1990s, Korea emerged as an important development partner of Bangladesh. My country is a partner country of Korea’s Employment Permit System and a good number of Bangladeshi workers are now working for Korean SMEs. On the international plane, we share common views in many issues including climate change, peace and stability, nuclear nonproliferation and cooperate closely in various multilateral forums.

I express my deep appreciation and gratitude to the government and the people of Korea for their strong support in advancing Bangladesh-Korea relations. As an ambassador I will make every effort to strengthen our bilateral ties. With the new Korean government in place, I would like to see more intense trade and investment relations between our two countries and hope that the Korean entrepreneurs and investors look more closely to the developments of Bangladesh and decide to tap the opportunity of this fast-growing economy. Long live the Bangladesh-Korea friendship.