Pakistan’s former ambassador to South Korea, Shaukat Ali Mukadam said that many Korean companies, especially SME were interested to come to Pakistan for business and investment as they intended to move out of Korea.
However, they needed information about cost of land and cost of setting up manufacturing units in Pakistan to enhance their presence in Pakistani market, he added.
He said this while exchanging views with Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry during his visit to ICCI.
Shaukat Ali Mukadam said that there was good scope to increase the volume of trade between Pakistan and South Korea and urged the Pakistani manufacturers to concentrate on value addition of their products to promote exports to South Korea. He said that there was a great potential for Pakistani business community to promote fruits and many other items to Korea. He said that the Koreans had learnt a lot from Pakistan in the 60s and today the secret behind their progress and prosperity was the implementation of right policies.
He urged that ICCI to consider taking a delegation to South Korea to get first-hand knowledge about business opportunities there. He assured that based on his working experience in South Korea, he would provide every sort of cooperation for promoting the trade and investment relations between Pakistan and South Korea.
Speaking on the occasion, Sardar Yasir said that South Korea’s annual exports were over $500 billion, but Pakistan-Korea bilateral trade was around $1.1 billion, which was nominal compared to real potential of both countries. He said that both countries were negotiating a free trade agreement that should be finalized soon to boost bilateral trade. He said that Pakistan could export many products to Korea including textiles products, cotton, fruits, rice, raw hides & skins, fish, surgical instruments, medical apparatus, toys and games, leather products and Koreans should be encouraged to enhance their imports from Pakistan.