‘Bangladesh will never fail’

People’s resilience will never allow Bangladesh to become a failure, said Kihak Sung, chairperson of Youngone Corporation.
He made the comments in his keynote speech before receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 22nd Bangladesh Business Awards ceremony in the capital’s Radisson Blu Dhaka Water Garden hotel yesterday.
DHL and The Daily Star, organisers of the award, honoured Sung for his contribution to export, job creation and industrialisation in Bangladesh.
Sung, a Korean, has been operating the export-oriented garment giant Youngone for over four decades. He has established a huge business, mainly in the port city of Chattogram.
Youngone has operations in several countries, including Vietnam. It exports around $1.17 billion annually from Bangladesh.
In his speech, Sung mentioned he has been doing business in Bangladesh for the last 44 years.
“When I’m in Korea, I’m known as a Bangladeshi man.”
In his journey, he saw many opportunities in businesses along with some struggles.
He thanked former ambassador Farooq Sobhan, the then foreign secretary, for giving him advice in operating the business.
“I’m immensely grateful for all the things that happened to me,” he said. Sung also thanked the people of Bangladesh for making his life “really fruitful”.
He mentioned that many of his clients sent encouraging letters regarding the future of Bangladesh in the last few weeks.
“I have a very good feeling about the future of Bangladesh. However, we need to really, practically work it out – how we can get out of the present difficult situation,” Sung said.
If the investors and the government work together, all the problems can be solved, he said.
“Especially, I want to deliver a message to my Korean community, including the government, to join hands in its [Bangladesh’s] development path,” he added.