SEOUL, Sept 29: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Thursday invited South Koreans to invest in the infrastructure development in Pakistan, particularly in the setting up of big refineries, telecommunication and hotel business.

The prime minister said this while addressing South Korean business representatives, media men and foreign policy experts at three different occasions on the second day of his three-day visit to South Korea.

He assured consistency and transparency of economic policies and said his government was pushing a broad-based structural reforms agenda for transforming the country’s economy. He said his government’s policy was focused on de-regularization, liberalization and privatization.

The prime minister said that structural reforms of the economy had placed the country on a high growth trajectory, with a growth rate in the last fiscal year of 8.4 per cent, amongst the three highest in Asia. He said that domestic and foreign investment was increasing and export levels were growing as well as diversifying.

Mr Aziz said that Korean investors who had big stake in the development of Pakistan’s infrastructure, automobile industry and telecommunication sector could invest without fear in the construction of big refineries, dams, hotel industry and telecommunication sector and benefit from Pakistan’s strategically ideal location in the region and hub of business activity. He said that Pakistan was willing to exploit the skills of Korean companies.

The prime minister said that reserves were up, exports expanding and there was an increasing middle class driving the growth and helping in more job creation.

He said the country’s economic polices were based on three pillars of deregulation, privatization and liberalization and steering the country on the strong growth path.

Referring to the broad reforms in almost all sectors of the economy, he said these had resulted in stabilizing the growth, doubling the revenue and lowering the budget deficit.

He said that Korea was an important economy in the region, and Islamabad looked at it as an economic role model for Pakistan. He said the two governments had set the bilateral trade target at $1 billion for the next year.

The prime minister informed the Korean businessmen that the Gwadar project would soon start functioning, which would provide corridor to the Gulf and Central Asian states. He said that cost of business and manufacturing was increasing in East Asia, whereas in Pakistan, the manufacturing cost and manpower are much cheaper which can benefit the foreign investors and Pakistan as well.

He said the objective of his ongoing tour was to put Pakistan on the business radar of Korean businessmen and investors and attracted them to invest in the country’s vibrant economy.

The prime minister said that the continued high and huge market of 150 million people would be an ideal production hub for the investors of East Asia.

Aziz said his government was promoting public-private partnership, and all possible facilities are being provided to the private sector in this connection.

He said that his current visit underscored Pakistan’s commitment to the promotion of mutually beneficial bilateral relations and added that 21st century would be an Asian century.

During the day Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also met the representatives of LG who appreciated the level of skills of the Pakistanis and said it was planning to expand their business in Pakistan.