*ISLAMABAD – Pakistan invites South Korea to join CPEC, makes special offerfor exclusive economic zone, *Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce,Textile, Industries, Production and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood hasreveled.

He has urged South Korean companies to participate in China-PakistanEconomic Corridor (CPEC)-related projects and has also proposed theestablishment of an exclusive economic zone for Korean companies as part ofCPEC.

He invited Korean investors at the Pak-Korea CEO Forum held in Seoul whererepresentatives of top Korean companies were present. Dawood headed adelegation of top players of the textile industry during the visit to SouthKorea. The visit has now concluded. Speaking at the forum, the PM adviserurged Korean companies to invest in Pakistan because of its improved globalranking in the Ease of Doing Business Index, which went up 11 points.

Moreover, he said, Pakistan had launched a programme titled RegulatoryGuillotine to improve business regulations in an attempt to attractinvestment into the country.

Through this programme, two to three regulations were being scrapped everymonth to streamline business activities. He added that Pakistan governmenthad taken various effective steps to improve trade procedures byestablishing a better trade facilitation regime.

During the trip, the PM adviser also met his Korean counterpart anddeliberated the challenges and opportunities in order to enhance bilateralcooperation in trade and investment.

He emphasised that there was enormous potential for bilateral trade andinvestment, which needed to be exploited by both countries.

The adviser also held meetings with heads of private-sector organisationsin an effort to draw investment. In order to enhance bilateral trade, thePM aide offered the Early Harvest Programme to his Korean counterpart,which may lead to a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.