The Hindu Business Line : Call to boost economic ties between India, Korea

(From left) Mr Choi Jung Il, Korean Ambassador in India; Mr Venu Srinivasan, Honorary Consul General of Korea in Chennai and CMD, TVS Motor Company Ltd; and Mr Heung Soo Lheem, Managing Director, Hyundai Motor India, at the inauguration of the Indo-Korean cultural and information centre in Chennai on Wednesday - Bijoy Ghosh

Chennai , May 10

The second round of negotiations for the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between India and Korea are being held in Korea from today, according to Mr Choi Jung Il, Korean Ambassador in India.

"We expect and hope that the negotiations will be concluded next year," he told journalists on Wednesday, after inaugurating an Indo-Korea Cultural and Information Centre here.

The two economies were complementary to each other and CEPAwould give a further boost to bilateral trade, he said. In the first quarter of this year, bilateral trade grew by 50 per cent to $2.3-2.5 billion, the Ambassador said and expressed confidence that it would touch $10 billion by the end of the year. The balance of trade was marginally in Korea's favour, he said.

Need for cooperation

There were more than 200 Korean companies operating in India now, of which nearly 35 were in Chennai. Korea was the fifth largest investor in India.

Apart from the growing economic relationship, there was a need to foster greater cultural and other exchanges, he said.

The Vice-Chancellors of major Indian universities had visited Korea and Madras University had established a Korea chair, with others too likely to follow suit.

Mr Venu Srinivasan, Chairman and Managing Director, TVS Motor Company Ltd, and Honorary Consul General of Korea in Chennai, said the centre would provide a major boost to cultural exchange between the two countries. In the backdrop of the huge explosion in Indo-Korea economic relationship and trade, cultural relations between the two also had to flower. There were nearly a 1,000 Korean families in Chennai alone, probably the largest foreign community in any Indian city, he said.