Want MNCs, Investment? Control COVID-19 spread, Improve situation for existing Cos: Korea suggests India

NEW DELHI: As the number of COVID-19 positive cross one-million mark in India where economic activities open up, it is fast becoming a cause of worry for the foreign investors and companies who are closely monitoring the development.

Currently in a ‘Wait & Watch’ mode, the MNCs and entrepreneurs for whom India is ‘a place to be’ have optimistic plans for investing here. But there are surely some concern areas – both evolving and pre-existing.

These concerns came to fore during an online interactive session recently held between Korean industry associations and former union minister and India’s Sherpa to G 20, G7 Suresh Prabhu.

The chiefs of Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KOCHAM) in India participated in this session “India & The World Series” organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

“COVID-19 a great opportunity for India. Many MNCs from the European Union and South Korea are planning to diversify their location to other countries. From our point of view, India will be one of the priorities in this relocation process,” said Young Kim Moon, President, KOTRA, South-West Asia, said,

However, Moon had a suggestion to make to the Indian government.

“The most important factor for inviting our MNCs including Korean businessmen will be how successfully India overcomes the COVID-19 spread. The safety and security of the (Korean) people here in India will be the number one factor. Another most crucial factor will be the positive suggestions and feedback given by the existing (Korean) investors passed on to the newcomers,” Moon added.

India currently has about 800 Korean companies in all segments – micro, small & medium, and large entities including MNCs like Samsung, Hyundai, LG, KIA, and others. However, this number is much less than Japan, which is one of the top foreign investors in India as it has over 1500 companies here.

“There are so many policies and incentives to invite Korean MNCs to India but special attention is being given to the current companies in India by the potential investors. In Korea, there is a dedicated body called Investment Management whose focus is to take care of the concerns and difficulties of the already existing Korean companies. They are collecting feedback from those companies and further put up suggestions to the Korean government as well as the President,” said Moon.

The KOTRA chief went on to suggest floating a dedicated agency on the lines of ‘Invest India’ to lay a special focus on Korean investment in India.

“In India, there is an Invest India which is fine but I suggest more strong and more focused Korean version investment management can be floated in India.”

Also read: Korean investment: India facing stiff competition from Vietnam, Indonesia

The former minister Suresh Prabhu assured the Korean dignitaries that the concerns shared by them would also be addressed.

The Korean companies like many others from different countries in India are facing COVID-19 triggered difficulties such as disrupted supply chain, crumbled logistics, the discrepancy in state and central government regulations, corruption, manpower issues, red-tapism, etc.

The cumulative investment by various Korean companies in India has been recorded at US$ 6 billion while it is in deep contrast low as against Japan that invested US$30.27 billion between 2000 and 2019.

China continues to be the number one trading partner of India with US$92 billion bilateral as against Korea’s US$21.5 billion bilateral trade till now.

Also read: Aggressive Japanese, Chinese investments in India leave Koreans worried