1. How significant is the Independence Day to Indians
It is a remarkable coincidence that India and Korea gained independence on the same date, the 15th of August.
India's Independence from colonial rule is a unique event in the modern history of the world because of Mahatma Gandhi's non-violence, which became the instrument of struggle to mobilize millions on a scale that the world had never witnessed before. India's freedom movement has become an idiom for fighting for just causes in many parts of the world. As India celebrates the sixty-fourth anniversary of her independence this year, we as Indians feel proud not only because of what we have achieved so far as a nation, but also because of the values of democracy, non-violence, and human dignity that the Indian independence has underlined for the world to emulate.
The Indian economy has grown by leaps and bounds and the constraining legacy of colonialism has been overcome by the people of India. India is today the fourth largest economy in the world on purchasing power parity. India is a sovereign, secular and democratic republic that has demonstrated all the qualifications to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
2. Will you please explain the past and present bilateral economic and trade relations between our two countries
If we look back, there was a time in our bilateral economic and commercial history when both countries were a little detached due to their own internal political dynamics and had failed to grasp the importance of a closer integration between us. However, this started changing in the early 1990s with the private sector taking the lead on both sides - whether it was through Tata's ties with Daewoo in Korea in the automobile sector for instance, or the successful ventures of LG, Samsung and Hyundai into the Indian market.
But it is India's Look East Policy and President Lee Myung-bak's historic visit to India in January 2010 that have made a significant transformational impact on India-Korea economic and trade relations. This received added strength with the signing of the historic Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which is Korea's first free trade agreement with a BRIC nation. Under the CEPA, most of the major export items from Korea to India enjoy reductions in tariffs. The CEPA has already proven its efficacy by contributing to increased trade flow between India and Korea which last year stood at $17 billion after growing more than 40% over the previous year. The trend is encouraging and the two countries are poised to achieve the $30 billion target by 2014. During the first six months of 2011, bilateral trade has increased year on year by 36% to US$ 11.04 billion, and it is expected to touch US$ 20-22 billion for the whole of 2011, a new high.
With extensive synergies and growing purchasing power on both sides, the profile of the India-Republic of Korea trade and economic relationship has already been changing from a mere commerce-driven one to one that is anchored on two-way investments. We have been witnessing greater economic integration across a wide spectrum of the economies of the two countries. It is important that the Korean industry recognizes that India, with its huge market comprising over 300 million consumers in the middle class, with a robust growth of about 8% of the Indian economy, and with a transparent and rule-based corporate climate, can be an excellent destination for their investments.
3. What are popular sight-seeing destinations for Koreans in India
With its varied topography, extensive panoramic landscape, and thousands of years of history and cultural heritage, India has something to offer to every type of tourist. For someone looking for places of religious significance we have the hallowed sites like Bodh Gaya. For someone wanting to visit historical sites India offers places like the Forts of Rajasthan. For someone just desiring to be lost in nature's beauty, he can do so on the scenic beaches of Goa and Kerala. Or for a tourist simply seeking to savor the magnificence of man-made structures, India has the wonders of the world like the Taj Mahal in Agra or Akshardham and Bahai Temples in New Delhi. An added attraction in Goa is one of the oldest churches in India, the Basilica of Bom Jesus, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, that holds the mortal remains of St. Francis Xavier. Adventure sports like river rafting or mountain climbing are expanding areas of Indian tourist attractions, while traditional wildlife sanctuaries are in abundance in India. Another area on which the Government of India and the tourist Industry is focusing is Eco-Tourism.
Buddhism is a major element of India's cultural and historical bonds with Korea. India is fortunate to have several Buddhist religious sites by virtue of being the birthplace of Buddhism. These holy places are a huge attraction to a Korean tourist. Rajagira, Vaisali, Kusinagar, Varanasi and Ajanta have been the most popular destinations among Korean travelers for a long time. Similarly, in both India and Korea, tradition and modernity coexist in harmony. Traditional Indian medicines such as Ayurveda and Unani have been attracting medical tourists in large numbers, which is a growing segment of Indian tourism now, and should also be of considerable interest to Korean tourists. There are numerous other places worth visiting in India such as Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Puri, Calcutta, Bagdogara, Darjeeling, and Gangtok which are unique in their own perspective. For instance, the rock-cut temples in the south of India are spectacles to behold. Bangalore and Pune are also becoming popular destinations for Korean tourists who go there for educational tours.
India's tourism sector generates about 6% of GDP and the tourism and hospitality sectors employ around 40 million people. As per the Ministry of Tourism, around 5.58 million foreign tourists visited India in 2010. The number of domestic tourists has also increased by an impressive 11% to 650 million. Foreign tourist arrivals are expected to grow to 10 million in the next few years.
4. What are the key and promising industries of India
Looking at Indian economy in a holistic perspective, it grew by 8.5% in 2010-11 and is expected to grow by 8.2% during the current year. Industrial production expanded by 7.9% while exports reached $246 billion, an increase of 37.5% over 2009-10. The agriculture sector, which was showing slow progress during the last few years, has picked up momentum and recorded a growth of 6.6% during this period. India, a US$1.3 trillion economy today, is now the world's 11th largest. The Indian economy's resilience was tested by the global financial and economic crisis in 2008 and 2009, but it has proven to be robust with strong fundamentals. These impressive credentials became possible due to a sound industrial policy supported by overarching monetary and fiscal policies of the government of India, all of which are investment-friendly and growth-oriented.
India's promising industries include Heavy Industries in the infrastructure area including Steel, Power, Roads & Highways, Ports etc.; a variety of manufacturing activities including Automobiles and Electronics durables, high quality forgings; Pharmaceuticals; Mining; Construction including urban development and water resource development; Services sector including IT, Transportation, a vast Tourism and Hospitality industry etc. It must be recognized that India is one of the few countries which possess the industrial capacity, quality and skilled human resource and the frontier technologies at par with the First World, and also the growth potential of a developing country. I welcome the Korean industries to take advantage of this rare combination and invest in India for mutual benefit.
5. What is the most important economic policy which India is now pushing
As a democracy, the core objective of India's economic policies would be to achieve an inclusive growth and sustainable development where every Indian has an equal opportunity to partake and enjoy the fruits of the economic success. Food security, energy security and poverty alleviation are obviously integral to this sustainable development we have been aiming at.
Infrastructure development is at the core of our economic growth policies since a world-class infrastructure is essential to support the various sectors of the economy, to help achieve the high growth targets we have set for ourselves, and to be able to attract the necessary foreign investments and capital flows.
The thrust in the coming years will also be on adding manufacturing capacity so as to position India as a manufacturing hub for exports to South Asia and the Middle East, as well as on maintaining India's pre-eminent position as an out-sourcing base for various service sector industries. An equitable growth would be possible if we can create employment opportunities to our vast pool of high quality human resource. India enjoys a young demographic profile with expanding literacy and highly acclaimed managerial and technological skills. Manufacturing and service sectors will play a critical role in our efforts to generate employment.
6. How would you distribute your software in Korea and strengthen partnership
India has already been well-recognized in the world, particularly by the developed and industrialized countries, as a software powerhouse. Corporations and enterprises spread widely across various sectors of the global economy are able to benefit from the value added and low-cost outsourcing model offered by Indian IT companies. Though major Indian IT names such as Tata Consultancy Services, WIPRO etc have set up their operations in the Republic of Korea for many years, it is somewhat disappointing that the Korean industry, despite its advanced technological base, has not paid enough attention to the software solutions emanating from India that can transform the business models altogether making them highly competitive.
I am inclined to believe that the Korean industry should look upon the Indian IT companies as partners and not competitors. Indian IT solutions complement the Korean industrial processes and need to be looked at as integral to the entire spectrum of production and business activity. It is instructive that a majority of Fortune 500 companies of the world use Indian IT solutions because they add value to their products and give them that extra edge over their competitors both in cost and quality terms.
For the past several years, India has been an increasingly favored destination for major companies which seek customized software development. The revenues of Indian IT-BPO industry touched $73.1 billion in 2009-10 constituting 5.8% of GDP with BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) accounting for US$ 12.4 billion and software and services US$60.7 billion. Indian IT companies are not only successful in English speaking countries of USA and Europe, but also in Latin America and in the Central and East Asia. For example, in case of Japan, Wipro (www.wipro.com) engineers are designing car-navigation system software for Hitachi Ltd. and medical scanners for Olympus Corp. There are several such examples.
India and Korea need to learn from these successful examples. Indian IT companies would, for instance, be open to working with Korean companies which are known to be strong in Hardware and this synergy should provide another opportunity where the two countries can work together. CEPA needs to be continually reviewed so that Korean companies work together with India for their IT solutions, particularly in the financial and banking services sector. IT can be a win-win for the two countries.
