ISLAMABAD: The Republic of Korea’s Ambassador to Islamabad, Park Kijun has said that almost 30 Korean companies are currently working in Pakistan and there remains a vast avenue of bilateral trade and investment that needs to be fully exploited to truly reflect the deep, bilateral relations between the two friendly countries.
The ambassador said he was also pleased to see Pakistani youth enjoying and learning Korean K-pop dances and singing and said that a large number of them were either studying or working in the ROK. Ambassador Park Kijun said the Korean industry and society need more well-trained, young workers.
Ambassador Park Kijun was exclusively talking to The News on the eve of the 40th anniversary of Pak-Korean diplomatic relations. On July 7th,1983 Pakistan and the Republic of Korea established diplomatic ties which the incumbent ambassador vows to further enhance. Talking to this correspondent at his residence Ambassador Park Kijun who recently took charge in Islamabad said that he is studying Pakistan and is mesmerized by the natural beauty of Islamabad. He said, “I am trying to build a network in many areas, including governmental and business.” He said that both countries have successfully established and maintained friendly and cooperative relations in several areas of trade and investment, cultural exchanges and development cooperation.
Ambassador Kijun that the past 40 years also left us with a lot of tasks and challenges which we need to address together. In the last five years, there has been a slowdown in trade and investment but I think both countries will move forward to address. While talking about the volume of bilateral trade, the ambassador said that it was worth $1.7 billion in the last year. He said that we need to break this status quo and increase the trade volume. He also said the total Korean investment in Pakistan was $900m which was not satisfactory.
When asked about the hurdles the Korean investors are facing in Pakistan? the envoy said they are mainly related to economic policies but the Pakistan government is doing its best to change the situation through several policies and the Special Investment Facilitation Council platform. The ROK ambassador said that approximately 900 Koreans dispatched by Korean companies are working here. On the other hand, 16,000 Pakistanis are living in Korea, some are studying and others are working. This number has recently shown a rising trend which is a good sign for the development of people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. What I would emphasize as a good sign is that most of the Pakistanis residing in Korea are mostly the younger generation. He said that Pakistanis are playing a positive role in Korean society and also helping the two countries come closer. He said that Korean industry and society need more well-trained, young workers. He said that we need trained human resources in the services and other sectors. He said that if the younger Pakistanis want to visit Korea for work or education they need to go through a proper process. The Korean government is making efforts to widen and ease the visa system. Besides, for employment in the ROK, the Korean Center in Islamabad conducts employment tests. This year, the number of youth who took the test is 29,000 and this number is also increasing which is another positive development.
Recently I was surprised to see many Pakistani youth are enjoying and learning Korean K-pop dances and singing. So I believe that these trends could bridge the people-to-people gap. I will further promote such events and projects in our embassies. On the other hand, Pakistan has a wealth of human resources, especially young generations. Over 60pc of the population is under the age of 30 which is a huge and tremendous strength for Pakistan, but also for Korea. To improve the cultural and people-to-people exchanges, he said my embassy is also working on these exchanges. To a question if there is an opportunity for them to visit ROK and to conduct concerts there,
Ambassador Kijun we need to promote more cultural exchanges. Last week, the Federal Minister of National Heritage and Culture, organized a cultural troupe which visited the Republic of Korea. He said the Pakistani musicians, singers and dancers also have tremendous potential.
