South Korea increases employment quota for Pakistani workers: envoy

Mr Suh Sangpyo, Ambassador of Korea to Pakistan, on Sunday disclosed that Korea has decided to increase the employment quota for Pakistani workers from 1000 to 1500 per year under Employment Permit System (EPS).

In an exclusive interview with APP, the Korean Ambassador said that the program was suspended during the pandemic period, but since last January, it had become operational again and more Pakistani workers would go to Korea on employment visas.

The envoy explained that currently, there were around 10,000 Pakistani workers in South Korea performing their duties in their respective fields with the utmost commitment.

In reply to a question on a recently signed agreement with Pakistan under Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) worth $1b for five years from 2022 to 2026, he said that this would be a soft loan that would be returned in 30 to 40 years. This soft loan will help Pakistan to establish IT Parks in Karachi by spending almost $120m and around $80m in Islamabad, he expressed.

The Ambassador further added that Pakistan’s Information Technology industry was booming and its exports to other countries were on the rise. He noted that the establishment of IT parks buildings in Islamabad and Karachi would enhance the scope of IT exports.

Commenting on the electronics of Samsung, he said that the company had made an investment in Pakistan and established a mobile production unit in Karachi last year. But the envoy commented that taxes are too high in Pakistan on the import of electronic gadgets such as mobile phones.

Therefore, the production of mobiles had witnessed a decrease due to the difficulty of importing mobile parts in the current situation now, he said adding, the original plan to produce more than 3,000,000 units here in Karachi is complicated.

Kia and Hyundai also just started their business here and created their space in the vehicle industry of Pakistan, he stated.

Ambassador Sangpyo added that there are multiple projects underway between Pakistan and Korea in the automobile, transportation, hydropower, smartphones, and confectionaries production sectors.