The trade and economic relations between India and the Republic of Korea (Korea) have gathered momentum in recent years with the bilateral trade reaching a hefty of $18.13 billion in 2014. India is the 15th largest trade partner of Korea. The Bilateral Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CEPA) has spurred the process, and investments both ways are on an upswing. The Korean majors such as Hyundai Motors, Samsung Electronics, LG, etc., which have invested around $3.53 billion till September 2014 in India, have plans to expand operations further. Actual Indian FDI led by Mahindra & Mahindra (Ssangyong Motors), Aditya Birla Group (Novelis Ltd.) and Tata (Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicles) also is inching close to $3 billion.
In order to further step up the bilateral trade between the two countries, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organized a Business Session & B2B Matchmaking Session with a delegation of machinery & manufacturing companies from Korea which recently visited Chennai.
In his special address on the occasion, Mr. M.S. Shanmugam, Additional Secretary – Industries, Government of Tamil Nadu, said that Chennai is the right place for the visit of the Korean delegation since Tamil Nadu is the front-runner in many fields and the second largest State in terms of GDP growth. The State is also well diversified with its focus areas shifting to automobile, auto components, engineering, foundry, IT, etc. The State is also known for its robust road network of 2 lakh km and over 60,000 km multi-lane highways maintained by the national and State Highway Department.
In high road density, Tamil Nadu ranks third in the country and is the only State with four large ports. With such excellent infrastructural facilities, Chennai has grown to become the largest automobile cluster hub well poised to join the club of the top 10 in auto clusters, he added.
On the vanguard of industrialization
Earlier, welcoming the gathering, Mr. R. Prabhakaran, Member – Task Force on International Linkages, CII SR, and Executive Director – Business Development, Amalgamations Group, said that as part of Tamil Nadu’s Vision 2023, the State has initiated several steps to encourage MSMEs and skill development. The Vision also envisages to become India’s most prosperous State achieving 11 per cent GDP. Further, Tamil Nadu being the vanguard of industrialization offers immense investment opportunities for Korean companies.
Mr. Kyungsoo KIM, Consul General, Consulate General of the Republic of Korea, in his brief address, said that in Korea Busan is a big manufacturing centre with companies focusing more on technology and innovation. The visit of Busan delegation to Chennai assumes special significance because companies in Tamil Nadu too have a similar focus.
Mr. A.N. Sujeesh, Convenor – Public Relations, Ambattur Industrial Estate Manufacturers’ Association (AIEMA), in his address, said AIEMA, the 53-year-old association, with a strength of over 2,000 members, actively involved itself in areas like automobile, engineering, etc. In India, every vehicle produced has some components supplied by AIEMA members who export components worth Rs. 20 billion to various parts of the world. The key initiatives taken by AIEMA include the setting up of a cluster for auto ancillaries in Chennai under the name of ‘CAAIIUC’.
Mr. S. Ganesh, Joint Secretary, Tamil Nadu Small and Tiny Industries Association (TANSTIA), in his address said that with 10,000 members, the Association representatives from MSMEs and tiny sector companies act as a bridge between the Government and the industry. The Association also fund the members who come out with innovative ideas.
Mr. Jaehoon Heo, lead the business delegation from Korea, thanked CII for the excellent arrangements made on the occasion.