India can become manufacturing hub, China no more attractive proposition: South Korea

NEW DELHI: South Korea has suggested India lay more emphasis on the manufacturing sector as foreign companies in China were finding it difficult to carry on production there, and were looking for better options in South East Asia.

Shin Bong-kil, Ambassador, Republic of Korea (ROK) in India said this while interacting with Indian youths recently through a video conferencing meeting organized by the Confederation of Young Leaders (CYL).

“China is not good anymore for foreign companies because of many factors like rising wages and reducing tolerance for foreign companies. China is not so friendly country as it was 10-20 years before. Many countries like to move away from China and they are trying to look for better places, and they are moving to South East Asia, and India is one of the destinations for them,” said the ROK ambassador.

While acknowledging the fact that India reigns supreme in the service sector, the ROK ambassador said that manufacturing is also very important.

“Why Germany and South Korea are resilient and strong economies as we manufacture things and don’t only rely on financial industry etc. Only the service industry is not enough. That’s why Indian PM Narendra Modi emphasis on Make in India,” said Shin Bong-kil.

He quipped, “Had I been an advisor to the PM Modi, I would have advised him to induce investment from Korea. You need strong infrastructure, roads, highways, railways, good air quality, clean water, and also good education.”

The South Korean ambassador, however, gave an example of China which, he said, was an underdeveloped country with poor people until a few years back.

“I stayed in Beijing for 7 years as a diplomat and I visited every area of this country in 1995 when it was a very underdeveloped country and people were very poor. Even Beijing was a modest town and gave a feeling of a socialist country. But now China is much different, as every big company in the world has their headquarter in Beijing,” he said adding that India with 1.35 billion people has a huge potential, and it should draw inspiration from others.

Shin Bong-kil, however, advised India to bolster its infrastructure to woo the companies moving out of China.

“Korean’s first destination is Vietnam, which has a big Korean community there and has the best of Korean investment too there only. About 40 percent of Vietnam’s exports come from Korean companies invested in India. India is also one of the destinations but it needs to work on infrastructure,” he added.

Shin Bong-kil delivered an example of KIA Motor’s $ 1 billion state-of-the-art factory in Andhra Pradesh in India which he said was the most beautiful company in the world, built with most beautiful design and technology.

“It has 30 companies around it. AP Government is very impressed and would like to attract more Korean companies there. Therefore inviting companies is very important for Make in India initiative,” he said.

Also read:‘Self-reliant India Mission’ to open doors for foreign investment, technology