ISLAMABAD: South Korean Ambassador Suh Sangpyo has said that bilateral trade between Pakistan and the Republic of Korea can tremendously increase if the two friendly countries sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
“In the case, South Korea and Pakistan sign the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), it will be very good for boosting bilateral trade between both countries. Korean investors are not necessarily looking for facilities like China, Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) but we can facilitate business ties through FTA,” commented Sangpyo in an exclusive interview.
He said that the business environment is improving day by day in Pakistan due to the supportive government policies. Moreover, he added that the critical thing is how the Korean government can push Korean businessmen to come to Pakistan and further strengthen ties.
“I am expecting that trade and investment ties are growing between Pakistan and Korea. One of the upcoming projects regarding hydropower having a capacity of 1 billion volumetric cubes has been approved by the KPK provincial Government. The second one is a 500 million volumetric cube hydropower plant project also provided by the KPK provincial government,” he said.
The envoy claimed that with the hydropower and energy setups an influx of Korean investment is coming. “Samsung has also planned to set up an assembly line in Karachi by the end of December this year and start production of around 3 million mobile phones from next year. These are very good signs of trade and investment relations between Pakistan and Korea,” he added. He said Korea is right now focusing on trade and economic relations with other countries.
“In terms of economic development cooperation, Korea provided 500 million US dollars over three years to be used for several projects to improve Pakistan’s economy. One project is Islamabad Information Technology Centre. This project is currently in progress in terms of construction and development of it,” he said.
