By NNN-APP
Islamabad : Caretaker Prime Minister Mohammedmian Soomro accorded approval to host International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAP) General Assembly here in October this year.
Senate of Pakistan would host the Conference and the government would provide necessary financial, logistic and administrative support.
The Prime Minister accorded the approval while talking to a delegation of South Korean parliamentarians comprising Mr. Chong and Dr. Kim which called on him here Thursday.
Dr. Kim is a former Minister for Environment and is currently chairperson of the South Korean Parliament’s Committee on Ethics and Vice Chairperson of the Committee on Defence.
Chairman, Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Mushahid Hussain Sayed and Ambassador of South Korea to Pakistan also present.
Appreciating the idea of holding such a Conference, the Prime Minister said it would enable the participating countries to share each other’s best practices.
He said the interaction would promote understanding of political cultures and means to resolve the problems of the common people so as to improve their standard of living.
Emphasizing upon strengthening the bilateral ties, he said Pakistan wants its economic and trade relations with South Korea to grow even further as it is an important country of Asia and Pakistan can benefit from the Korean experience of economic growth and development.
The Prime Minister said Pakistan’s economy is growing rapidly and the structural reforms undertaken by the government during the last eight years have resulted in the economic turnaround from which the Korean investors can also benefit.
Although the Korean investors are already investing in Pakistan, he said, there is sufficient scope to encourage the Korean investors to invest more in Pakistan especially in the engineering industry and services sector.
The Prime Minister said a strong Pakistani workforce is employed in Korea and more people are attracted towards the Korean market due to the good remuneration it offers.
He expressed confidence that South Korea would continue to utilise Pakistan’s human resource which is second to none.
The Prime Minister appreciated Korean assistance during 2005 earthquake and underlined the need to further promote exchanges between the two countries so as to facilitate greater people to people contact.
Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed informed the Prime Minister that the General Assembly of ICAP comprises 245 political parties from all over Asia.
The delegation apprised the Prime Minister this year Pakistan and South Korea are celebrating 25th anniversary of bilateral relations.
They expressed the confidence that relations between the two countries will strengthen further in all spheres as both the countries have a sense of shared values and a desire to further enhance their relationship.
They acknowledged that a lot of opportunities exist for expanding the ties particularly in trade and investment.
On the occasion, Dr. Kim presented to the Prime Minister a compilation of ICAP documents as well as the final report of its last meeting.