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Korean Ambassador Dr Song Jong-Hwan said on Monday that his country was keen to strengthen trade relations with Pakistan. Trade volume between Pakistan and Korea was around $1.6 billion in 2012 but now it has dropped to $1.2 billion which should be a cause of serious concern for both sides, he added. He said this while addressing the executive committee member of Multan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) chaired by Fareed Mughis Sheikh.
"Korea is fully aware of the problems faced by the Pakistan regarding business and his country will assist Pakistan to enhance trade volume," he said. Korean envoy further said there were many factors that were causing low volume and this included unavailability of information about areas of both the countries could trade. However, he said the governments of Pakistan and Korea had started feasibility study of free trade agreement (FTA) which would be completed by end of June this year and added that both sides are expecting big jump in bilateral trade after the signing of FTA.
He said more than 20 Korean companies are working in different sectors. He also stressed the need of frequent exchange of trade delegation and ensured his full cooperation in this regard. Dr Song said Pakistan is a dynamic country, having all seasons, sea ports, all types of fruits and huge workforce, however there is a need to improve law and order situation in the country to attract the foreign investment.
He said that both Pakistan and Korea are enjoying cordial diplomatic and trade relations and there is a great scope to further strengthen the bilateral relations in the various fields. Pakistan has enormous business potential but due to security concerns the desire results have not been achieved yet.
He mentioned formal diplomatic relations with Pakistan were established in 1983.Since then, 33 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries have considerably moved forward on both economic and political fronts. "Especially, in 2014 Speaker of the National Assembly of Korea visited Pakistan in January and then Prime Minister of Korea visited Islamabad in mid-April. This is first time that such senior dignitaries from Korea visited Pakistan," he said.
South Korea will establish one of the biggest and most advanced IT Parks in Islamabad. The Exim Bank of Korea has agreed to provide $50 million for the establishment of this project and South Korean teams are expected to conduct a feasibility study with assistance from the Ministry of IT and Pakistan Software Exports Board (PSEB). It is expected that the IT Park will attract international companies to develop software and hardware solutions and will also help boost the country's IT exports. Dr Song said bilateral trade between the two countries has declined by almost 34pc in the last three years and said this should be a cause for serious concern for both sides.
He said that non-availability of trade related information and a lack of understanding about the promising areas of cooperation were the major reasons for the low volume of trade between the countries. He said that there is a vast scope in Korea for Pakistani mangoes. He said that Korea had imported 14,000 tonnes of mangoes last year which might be increased to 24,000 tonnes this year.
But its transportation is so costly. He also suggested Korean airlines operation in Pakistan bring two countries closer to each other. Earlier, President of MCCI said in his welcome that Korea should initiate some projects in Multan and southern Punjab. Khawaja Jalaluddin Roomi, former president of MCCI stressed the need for developing infrastructure and a big project of auto mobile so that maximum number of people could get employment in this area. Korean envoy assured that he would take up this demand with its government. Later he inaugurated a Painting Exhibition 2016 at MCCI organised by Artists Association of Punjab and MCCI.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2016

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