President Mamnoon Hussain on Friday stressed vigorous steps to take the bilateral relations of Pakistan and Korea to new heights with focus on further deepening the trade and investment cooperation in diverse fields.
Expressing satisfaction on the bilateral cooperation during past three decades, the president said there existed untapped potential of trade that needed to be tapped.
The president stated this during his meeting with Korean parliamentary delegation headed by Republic of Korea National Assembly Speaker Kang Chang Hee at the President House.
Welcoming the Korean parliamentary delegation, which is on a two-day visit to Pakistan, the president said that Pakistan attached great importance to its relations with South Korea and was keen to further underpin bilateral trade and commercial ties.
He said Pakistan was deeply impressed by the economic progress achieved by the Republic of Korea under the visionary leadership and was keen to learn from Korean experience of development.
Highlighting the immense trade and investment potential, the president said that Pakistan had huge potential in energy sector which could be harnessed with Korean assistance by setting up power plants.
The president invited Korean companies to invest in energy sector and avail the huge incentive packages being offered by the present government. He urged for frequent exchange of business delegations which, he said was crucial for optimum utilisation of the huge trade potential available in the two countries.
Underscoring the significance of bilateral parliamentary exchanges, the president expressed hope that the visit of Korean parliamentary delegation led by Kang Chang Hee would help further strengthen bilateral ties besides promoting parliament-to-parliament and people-to-people contacts between the two countries.
Referring to the visit of the Senate chairman to Republic of Korea in October last year, the president said that parliamentarians from both the countries had a critical role to play in strengthening bilateral ties.
The president expressed confidence that Pakistan-Republic of Korea Parliamentary Friendship Group that had recently been re-activated in National Assembly of Pakistan would help promote friendly ties.
On educational cooperation between the two countries, the president said that large number of Pakistani students were studying in various institutions in Korea and urged the need for enhancing the number of scholarships for Pakistani students besides absorbing more Pakistani manpower in Korea.
Pakistan possesses adequate skilled manpower and could meet South Korea‘s additional manpower requirements, the president said.
Kang Chang said that Republic of Korea valued its relations with Pakistan and was keen to further boost the existing relations through enhanced economic and parliamentary cooperation. He thanked the president and government of Pakistan for the warm welcome and hospitality being extended to him and the accompanying delegation and expressed hope that the frequent exchange of parliamentary delegations between the two countries would provide new impetus to the existing strong partnership between Pakistan and South Korea.
Senate Chairman Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari, Senator Osman Saifullah Khan and Senate Secretary Amjad Pervez Malik were also present on the ocassion.
