S. Korean national day observed

Jin-Wook Kim, Republic of Korea’s charge d’affaires, and his wife welcomed a large number of guests at a reception to celebrate the Korean National Foundation Day and the Armed Forces Day. The event was held in the large garden of the ambassador’s residence in the Diplomatic Enclave in Islamabad.

The chief guest was Abdul Qadir Baloch, the federal minister for SAFRON, with Malik Muhammad Rafiq Rajwana, Governor of Punjab, and several other high-level Pakistani officials, foreign envoys and guests from all walks of life attending as well.

In his speech, Mr. Kim said the friendship between his country and Pakistan had been reinforced during the new Korean government, and that the speaker of the Korean National Assembly had visited Pakistan in August, thus further strengthening cooperation between the two countries.

“In a few months, Korea’s friendship with all countries will be vitalized when sportspeople from around the world gather in Peongchang, Korea, for the 2018 Winter Olympics”, said Mr. Kim. President Moon Jae-in has expressed hope for the games to be known as the ‘Peace Olympics’.

Spanish national day celebrated

Ambassador Carlos Morales and senior staff members welcomed guests to a beautiful garden reception at the ambassador’s residence in Diplomatic Enclave to celebrate the Spanish National Day. The chief guest on the occasion was Federal Minister of Commerce and Textile Mohammad Pervaiz Malik.

In their speeches, the host and chief guest underlined the good cooperation between the two countries in trade and commerce and also stressed the importance of expanding cooperation beyond textile and some other major fields. There are over a million Pakistanis working in Spain, playing an important role in the host country, and sending home significant amounts of remittances to Pakistan.

Ambassador Morales said that in the last year, there has been increase in trade with Pakistan, and more Spanish companies are investing in the country. Spain’s export volume to Pakistan has surpassed 1.2 billion Euros, and Pakistan is approaching a billion in its export to Spain and the country is Pakistan’s sixth largest export destination overall.

Malaysian food festival opens

A five-day Malaysian food festival was inaugurated by the high commissioner of Malaysia at the Wild Rice restaurant in Serena Hotel.

The star chef for the festival was Zaidah binti Mohammad Noor, a Malay chef, with 36 years of experience who was invited by the High Commission to introduce authentic Malay cuisine in Islamabad.

Hasrul Sani Mujtabar, High Commissioner of Malaysia, said: “There is a saying that the way to a man’s heart is through the stomach and I believe food can also help bring the peoples of two countries together.

This is the philosophy that encouraged us to arrange this festival with Serena. This is also my last activity at the High Commission with my staff as I leave Pakistan this week.”

He added: “I hope you enjoy the Malaysian delicacies created by Zaidah and hope this will inspire you to visit Malaysia and try all that Malaysia offers.”

Chef Zaidah said: “Malaysian food is spicy but I have planned the menu to offer a range of flavours from a few of the states in Malaysia. I was fortunate in that Serena Hotel arranged many of the ingredients I did not think would be available here.”

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2017