20000321

Improved investment

policy vital to attract

foreign capital: Hyuk

NAYYAR ZUBERI

KARACHI: Hyuk Kyu Kim, leader of a 41-member trade mission from Korea, has emphasised the need of improving investment policies to attract foreign capital.

Addressing a press conference at a local hotel on Monday, he said Pakistan offers best opportunities to foreign investors in terms of its geographical location and its population.

He said that Korea and some European countries provided ten years tax exemption, land on 50 years lease on easy terms and other incentives to attract foreign investors, and Pakistan should also provide similar incentives.

Kim, who is also governor of a Korean province, said "2001 century is a century of globalisation and countries opening their doors for foreign investment providing various kinds of incentives. Those who provide better investment climate and less risk the foreign investors go there".

He said that Pakistan was spending a lot of its revenues on keeping a huge army like Korea which hindered industrial development employment opportunities.

Replying to a question about textile machinery, he said that his province had no textile machinery manufacturing unit. It is Taegu City which has textile machinery manufacturing units and on return he would take up the matter with the Mayor of Taegu City to cooperate with Pakistan in textile machinery sector".

About his Kyongsangnam-Do province, he said that this province is the richest and most developed of the 16 states of the country. Its total export is around 12.6 billion dollars and per capita income is 12000 dollars. The economy is based on fisheries, livestocks, high tech industries, shipbuilding , agriculture, chemical processing equipment, chenille machine, vehicles production etc.

Annually the province holds an automobile and a machinery exhibitions. He invited Pakistan business community to see these exhibitions.

Describing industrial policy of the province, he said that it was to localise labour incentive industries and encourage foreign collaboration in high tech sector

The governor said that during its stay in Pakistan the delegation had met the Governor of Sindh and Federal Minister for Fisheries and discussed possibilities of cooperation in different fields.

He said that good chances existed for cooperation in the field of fisheries and agriculture.

The governor was accompanied by Kong Min-bae Mayor of Changwong City.