ISLAMABAD: Seung Man Sang, Deputy Head of Mission, South Korean Embassy has said that Pakistan could attract a majority of 40 million South Korean tourists due to its tourist attractions better than other parts of the world.
In a discussion with a small group of journalists here, the South Korean deputy head of the mission said that in 2020, the Korean embassy would focus on bringing more and more investment in Pakistan by ensuring security to Korean citizens visiting Pakistan.
He said out of 50 million South Korean citizens, 40 million were tourists and they would love to visit Pakistan with improving security and hosting facilities.
“The major concerns for the tourists are security and good quality hoteling facilities. With improving the security situation in Pakistan, I hope Pakistan can attract more tourists from South Korea due to its rich and virgin tourist destinations and loving people,” he said.
Seung Man Sang said that South Korea plans to send its top agricultural expert to Pakistan next month who would advise the federal government on advancement in agricultural sector.
He said that with Pakistan’s economic situation improving, South Korean investors are also keen to come and invest here.
“Due to the security issues in Pakistan, the Korean investors were hesitant to come and invest in Pakistan. But next year, there would be many investors coming to explore options for investment in Pakistan,” he said.
The Korean deputy head of mission said that South Korea had already started Solar Testing System Certification Program US$ 10 million grant in NUST while and clean drinking water programme is also underway in Sindh.
“We are also providing soft loan to Pakistan for developing modern and state of the art IT Parks in Islamabad and Karachi,” he said and added that next year, some big Korean investments in communication sector is likely.
He said 13000 Pakistanis are staying in South Korea while 2000 Pakistanis are studying in Korea and around 500/600 Pakistanis visit Seoul every year.
“We are also facing the issue of illegal immigrants from Pakistan. We are working with Pakistan to mitigate this issue. We have also enhanced quota for Pakistani workers from 1000 to 1100 in the year 2020 in the skilled worker category. On the other hand, 10,000 Koreans visit Pakistan annually but 800 are staying here at present,” he added.
He said KOICA is actively engaged in the provision of clean drinking water, solar system, textiles university and other support projects in Pakistan.
“We are providing $80 million support in the energy sector,” he concluded.
