AP team in South Korea to attract investments

Vijayawada A high-level delegation from Andhra Pradesh led by Finance Minister Bugganna Rajendranath on Tuesday held several rounds of discussions with the officials concerned in South Korea to attract investments and explore collaborative opportunities of mutual interest.

The team met various stakeholders in Seoul on the first day of their visit. The team is expected to explore the G2G and G2B opportunities in the Republic of Korea.

The delegation met the Ambassador of India to the Republic of Korea, held meetings with the Indian Chamber of Commerce, KOTRA (Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency) and Sahmyook University authorities. Besides Buggana Rajendranath, the team consisted of K Sunita, Principal Secretary, Handlooms and Textiles, S Suresh Kumar, Principal Secretary, Skills Development & Training; Vinod KumarV, MD & CEO, AP State Skill Development Corporation.

The discussion with Amit Kumar, Ambassador of India to Korea was focused on economic development prospects between Korea and AP. Ideas related to the investment prospects were exchanged.

The AP Government conveyed its readiness to set up industrial clusters in AP in tie up with industries in South Korea who are willing for business expansion. Special emphasis was given on promoting import and export of seafood as AP has the second longest coastline in India. The import duty structure was discussed at length and requested the Ambassador for necessary support by creating an conducive environment for business.

The Embassy promised to extend its full support in promoting investment and collaboration for the State of AP. Korea will also look into the import and export duties and will put efforts to create the conducive environment as per the AP’s requirement.

Discussions were also held with the Indian Chamber of Commerce to explore more business opportunities in Korea. During the meeting with the representative of ICCK, the Govt of APrepresentatives discussed the avenues of increasing the trade and promotions for enhancingthe economic activities between the two counterparts.

A Finance Department official told Bizz Buzz that ICCK agreed to extend its full support in the areas of improving the trade and economic partnerships. The AP team said the State will prioritize all the cases where the investment opportunities are available.

It was decided to hold regular exchange of information and dialogue. Meeting with KOTRA also evoked encouraging responses.Korea was asked by the visiting team to support in promoting the industrial investment in AP.Details on AP investment-friendly economy were provided to the team of KOTRA.

KOTRA officials conveyed their readiness to extend necessary support saying they want to be part of the Investment AP mission.KOTRA has a network office established in Bengaluru and it has requested interested parties to contact their Indian office to explore prospective collaborations. Discussions were carried out on topics relevant for future collaborative programs. This included innovative projects such as setting up Korean language labs in AP to enable the youth to seek opportunities for studying and working abroad especially in Korea.

In a significant development, Sahmyook University agreed to extend its support to AP in the field of vocational education. Sahmyook offered to teach Korean language to promote placements in Korea. It was resolved at the meeting to encourage student exchane programs.