SEOUL: Pakistan has completed the first round of Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) talks with South Korea, with a second round on the horizon, Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan announced at a trade conference in Seoul.
Khan said a finalised agreement would give Pakistani exporters fresh market access and deepen economic ties between the two countries.
The Pakistan-Korea Trade & Investment Conference drew more than 170 businessmen from both nations and produced six Memoranda of Understanding between Pakistani and Korean firms, according to a statement issued after the event.
The event unfolded as the two governments continue working through their CEPA negotiations, and Khan pressed business leaders on both sides to translate the conference’s momentum into firm partnerships before the deal is signed.
Attendance split roughly evenly, with 91 Korean and 82 Pakistani delegates present, the latter group including members of Korea’s Pakistani diaspora alongside representatives from the Sialkot and Gujranwala chambers of commerce and industry.
Pakistan’s Ambassador to South Korea opened proceedings, followed by remarks from the Daegu Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s vice chairman. Representatives of the Special Investment Facilitation Council and the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan then walked participants through the country’s export strengths, spanning textiles and apparel, leather, surgical and sports goods, agro-food products, minerals and IT services.
The event’s business-to-business sessions produced the six signed MOUs, with Sialkot, Gujranwala and other chamber-affiliated companies partnering with Korean counterparts across salt, cosmetics, and oil and sesame seed trade. Organisers said the agreements are meant to serve as a springboard toward more formal commercial contracts between the firms involved.
A follow-up conference is already being planned for Seoul in March 2027, intended to build on the momentum once the CEPA is finalised.
