Business Recorder, Paksitan

22 February, 2016

PAKISTAN, KOREA LIKELY TO SIGN FTA IN 2016

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and South Korea are in the process of completing a pre-feasibility study on signing a free trade agreement (FTA), which we hope to complete by June 2016, Pakistan Ambassador to South Korea Zahid Nasrullah Khan said on Monday.

In an interview with Korean newspaper `The Asian’ Pakistani envoy said we are looking forward to the first round of bilateral trade negotiations, which will start the process of FTA.

The envoy said we are encouraging Korean investors to invest in Pakistan, especially in the energy sector.

Some Korean companies are showing keen interest to invest in hydro-power plants in Pakistan, he added.

“The Korea Exim-bank is extending the Economic Development Cooperation fund, it was $180 million and last September, we signed an agreement to boost it to $500 million,” Khan said.

Pakistan Ambassador said “We are planning to build an IT park in Islamabad with the help of Korea Exim-bank and Korean government. It will be over an area of 2 acres, with a budget of about $100 million.”

“We are also trying to establish some vocational universities, because Korea is very advanced in that field and we have many upcoming industries, like automobile industry and other sectors, where people need such labor force,” Pakistan’s envoy added.

Pakistan China Economic Corridor is an on-going huge investment of $46 million, which will see a lot of economic activities in Pakistan, it will need a very highly qualified labor force.

This is why we are focusing on vocational training and this is where Korea’s role is important, the envoy said.

“We are also making efforts in art-related sectors, such as creating more opportunities for collaboration between media industry and artists in Korea and Pakistan,” Khan said.