A high-level business delegation from Republic of Korea (South Korea) has expressed willingness to invest in Punjab and Chandigarh region. It has also expressed willingness to invest in joint venture partnership with industrialists from Northern region and has evinced keen interest in developing infrastructure projects including smart cities, transportation, power generation and transmission.

“Korea is particularly keen to forge business ties, joint ventures (JVs), partnerships, mergers and develop other inter-trade mechanisms like appointing dealerships and distributor channels with the industrialists from Northern India, especially Chandigarh and Punjab region, considering the immense potential in this region for Korean technologies and products having a large number of small and medium industries “, said His Excellence Mr Joon Gyu Lee , ambassador of Republic of Korea (ROK) in India who is leading a high level Business delegation from Korea for two days in Chandigarh and Punjab.

The high level delegation consisting of high officials from major Korean companies and business associations has been organised by the India –Republic of Korea Friendship Society ( IRKFS) , Embassy of Korea in India and Korean Chambers of Industry and Commerce in India (KOCHAM) . It started its visit from State of the art Sigma Freudenberg NOK (SFN) an Indo-German- Japanese joint venture unit for manufacturing of oil seals and sealing products for domestic and global automobile markets at Basma, near Banur, Punjab.

“The recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Korea and various steps taken by India and Punjab Government for easing of doing business and creating an ideal investment environment coupled by success of several existing Korean companies in India, large number of new companies are interested in investing and setting up industries in India and becoming a key partner in ‘Make in India’ initiative,” said Mr Lee while speaking during his visit to the plant .

“My country South Korea has offered to set up a $10-billion fund to support several of his ambitious projects, from bullet trains to smart cities. This will comprise an economic development cooperation fund of $1 billion and export credits of another $9 billion, This fund will be used to support several of Prime Minister Modi’s initiatives on infrastructure development, including smart cities project, railways, power generation, transmission and also other sectors that can be agreed upon at a later stage,” Lee added.

“We have set up second state of the art Sigma freudenberg NOK (SFN) , an Indo-German- Japanese joint venture unit for manufacturing of oil seals and sealing products for domestic and global markets in Punjab, The ultra modern unit set up in 40 acres of land with 2,50,00 Sq ft as covered area in Basma is the second unit of the SFN to come up in the state of Punjab. An earlier oil seal producing unit of SFN Joint venture has been successfully functioning in Mohali since year 2000. The second unit has been set up to meet the ever growing demand of oil seals in various sectors including automotive, agriculture, construction, mining ,power and steel industry “said Mr J.D.Singh, Chairman, Sigma group and SFN while welcoming the Korean Delegation at his unit.

“The offer of easing doing business in India with stress on replacing multiple prior permissions with a pre-existing regulatory mechanism and raising of infrastructure investment by Rs 70,000 crore in the Union Budget 2015-16 ,India will soon have all ingredients to become global sourcing hub for automotive components and other make in India products.” Said Mr Singh

“The high level business delegation composed of various well known Korean companies representing various vital sectors of industries including automobiles, infrastructure, steel, consumer electronics, investment, consulting, and Information Technology during its two day visit will be meeting the Punjab Chief Minister Mr Prakash Singh Badal, Punjab Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa tomorrow (August 21, 2015 )” Said Mr Satish Sharma, Secretary, India-Republic of Korea Friendship Society (IRKFS) and advisor KOCHAM .

“ Apart from Korean Ambassador , other representatives in the delegation include Chief Director General for India and South Asia of KOTRA, a South Korean government body, Secretary General of KITA and KOCHAM, Chairman POSCO (One of the largest steel makers in the world) , Managing Director Hyosung Corporation and Senior Vice President Samsung Electronics and Senior Vice President of Samsung (Construction&Trading).” Said Mr Sharma.

“ The focus of the productive visit includes focus on PM’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, investment in manufacturing and infrastructure sector, automotive ,IT and consumer electronics. PM Modi’s initiative of skill development among Indian youth may also find a willing partner in South Korea by emulating South Korea’s focus on technical and vocational training especially in Punjab State” he said.

He added that the India-Korea comprehensive economic partnership agreement has the potential to take bilateral trade relations between the two countries to new heights.

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