'Miracle of Indus River' in Pakistan

It is known, not only in Korea but also around the world that Pakistan is a frequent victim of terrorism because terrorist attacks in the frontier region of Pakistan get a lot of media coverage. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government, which came to power in May 2013, and the Pakistani military authorities are jointly committed to proceeding according to the 'National Action Plan on anti-terrorism' in order to root out terrorism and extremism from Pakistan.
Because of media coverage on terrorism activities in Pakistan, Korea has understandably failed to notice its long-standing relationship with Pakistan and the glorious Pakistani culture and its immense potentiality. Pakistan has a world heritage site of an ancient city called Mohenjo Daro, or "Mound of the Dead" which represents the Indus Valley Civilisation, one of the four ancient civilisations of the world. The site was discovered in the 1920s in Sindh.
The relationship between Korea and Pakistan traces back up to 1700 year ago. The monk Maranatha from Pakistan went on to Korea, through China, to spread Buddhism in the Baekje kingdom in 384 A.D. The 8th century Monk Hyecho from Korea wrote a travelogue called "Memoirs of the pilgrimage to the five kingdoms of India". Out of the five kingdoms that the monk Hyecho visited as mentioned in his travelogue, three kingdoms are Peshawar, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Kashmir.
Pakistan provided us food and medicine aid amounting to US $300,000 during North Korea's invasion in 1950. Furthermore, when we were trying to set up the first 5-year economic development plan, the then secretary of development planning in Pakistan gave advice on economic development to our experts. Pakistan should be appreciated for this. From the end of the World War II till now about 140 countries have gained independence. Of all these countries, Korea was the first to change from an aid recipient country to a donor country in 2010. Korean per capita income in 1960 was less than $80. Now Korean per capita income is more than $28,000. Korea's trade volume has been more than one trillion dollars since 2011. This progress is called 'Miracle of the Han River'.
As the ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Pakistan for the past 2 years, I am convinced that Pakistan can achieve the "Miracle of Indus River" if they follow the same path as we did earlier. This conviction goes along with Korean firms extending their business into Pakistan after understanding Pakistan's huge potential.
Pakistan has the world's second highest mountain, the K2, in its North-East, and plains and fertile agricultural land in the center and the south of the country, which has an irrigation system built in the colonial era of the British Empire, spreading across the country from North to South along the Indus River.
In a geopolitical sense, Pakistan lies in an important strategic location. It is a land connection between South Asia, Central Asia, China, and the Middle East, and is close to the entering point of the Persian Gulf by sea. Its population is the sixth largest in the world and is estimated to be 190 million, with almost 100 million youth who are fluent in English and have good computer skills. Furthermore, its land area is 3.5 times more than that of the Korean Peninsula. It is rich in mineral resources including Coal, Copper, Gold, and Iron, and its production capacity in cotton, milk, and wheat is at world-class level.
In addition to the above potentials, Pakistan government is implementing 'Vision 2025' that aims to achieve 5.5% GDP growth rate in 2015. The most conservative analysts in the international financial institutions, the UN, credit-rating agencies and economic journals are giving positive reports about the recent faster economic growth in Pakistan.
After President Park Geun-hye and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had a summit on the sidelines of the 70th session of UN general assembly on 27th September, 2015, the secretary of Economic Affairs Division and I, Dr Song Jong-hwan, the ambassador of the Republic of Korea, signed the 2015-2017 Economic Development Co-operation Fund (EDCF) Framework Agreement amounting to US $500 million on 2nd October, 2015.
As a follow-up of the summit meeting, the 9th Bilateral Policy Consultations were held in Islamabad on 26th November. Mohammad Waheed-ul-Hasan, Acting Foreign Secretary led the Pakistan side, while Lim Sung-nam, who came to Pakistan for his first official visit after taking office as the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led the Korean side. This moment marks the highest level of solidarity in the relationship between the two countries so far.
I visited a hydropower plant construction site built by Korean companies through a dangerous cliff road to encourage and motivate both Korean and Pakistani people working there. And when I heard the problems being faced by Korean companies in terms of not receiving the cost of construction and delays in freight transportation I met Pakistani officials to solve the problems immediately.
For achieving the 'Miracle of Indus River', I advise my Pakistani friends to learn from Korean experience of Samaeul Undong (New Village Movement) and economic development. At the same time I am convinced Pakistan will be the emerging blue ocean market for Korea, with Korean Air flights flying from Korea to Pakistan and export of Korean automobiles to Pakistan. With this dream, no matter how dangerous circumstances are, I will continue making my best efforts to do my important assignments.