The following is a message from Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on his second visit to South Korea. ― Ed.


I am delighted and wish to greet the people and government of the Republic of Korea on the eve of my visit to this land of the morning calm and miracle of the Han River. This is my second visit to the Republic of Korea. The first time I visited this country in 1996 as part of the delegation led by the Prime Minister and my wife Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. I still cherish the fond memories of my last visit.

Contacts between our two peoples are deep rooted in history. The researches by Korean archaeologists and religious scholars have revealed that Monk Maranantha who introduced Buddhism to Korea was born in Chota Lahore, near Mardan in the present Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, in the 4th Century. These contacts have further developed in the course of time.

The past six decades have witnessed enhanced cooperation between the two countries. While during this period South Korea has made great economic strides the bilateral relation between Pakistan and South Korea have also been on an upward trajectory and witnessed enhanced cooperation particularly in areas of trade and commerce. The trade between Pakistan and Korea, which was less than US$ 100 million surpassed 1.5 billion dollars mark in 2011, the highest ever recorded.

Today, a number of leading Korean companies are engaged in business ventures in Pakistan in fields as diverse as hydel water, infrastructure, wind and solar power, chemicals, and development of port facilities. We look forward to continued Korean investment in Pakistan. Pakistan is a very attractive destination for investment having adopted legislative measures to ensure protection to investors and tax benefits. In addition to serving Pakistan’s domestic market of nearly 200 million people investors can also hugely benefit from our strategic location to serve the regional markets of South and Central Asia which use Pakistani Port facilities. We appreciate the vision of President Lee to outreach the new emerging markets of the South Asian region.

I take this opportunity to extend my heartiest congratulations to the President of the Republic of Korea, His Excellency Mr. Lee Myung-bak on the successful holding of the G20 Summit in 2010 and the Nuclear Security Summit in 2012. The Korean Government’s achievement in crossing the one trillion dollars mark of GDP in 2011 and its sportsmen securing 5th position in the London Olympics has earned it rich accolades.

The successful holding of the National Assembly elections in April this year and the forthcoming Presidential elections this month are milestones on road to political stability.

Pakistan fully supports the efforts for finding a peaceful solution to the crisis in the Korean Peninsula through the Six Party Talks. We wholly endorse the spirit, sentiments and directions of the Policy of Peace and Prosperity that the government of Korea is pursuing.

Pakistan looks forward to establishing a close partnership for peace and development with the Republic of Korea. My talks with the Korean leadership will focus on strengthening our bilateral relations in all fields. There is a sound conceptual foundation for such a partnership that must attain its full potential through our cooperative ventures spanning the full spectrum of political, economic and cultural fields.

I wish to thank The Korea Herald for taking my message to the people of Korea and wish the people of Republic of Korea continued peace and prosperity in the years ahead.

KhamsaMida