Korean investment: India facing stiff competition from Vietnam, Indonesia

New Delhi. Not content with the speed of response from the Indian government side, the Korean companies are looking for investment options in ASEAN countries like Indonesia and Vietnam.

If India wants more Korean companies to invest here, it will have to act proactively, be more responsive and quick to the expression of interest shown by the former. It will also have to provide better infrastructure and ease of doing business.

Mincheol Kim, the Minister Counsellor, Embassy of the Republic of Korea, New Delhi, said this in an exclusive interview with Asian Community News (ACN) Network recently.

While echoing the concern of the potential Korean investors in India, Mincheol Kim said, “Our (Korean) businessmen are concerned about the speed of the Government of India. We know India is enthusiastic (about having Korean investment) but its speed is relatively short of our expectations. But ASEAN countries like Vietnam, Indonesia are very responsive to our investments. Now India is competing with these countries for Korean investment.”

While asserting that the Korean companies are more active than Japan in India, Kim said, “We are knocking the doors of every state (in India), but while we are waiting for the response, other competitor countries give more quick response. And frustrated with such things, Korean businessmen are looking for various alternatives. They are waiting for a response from the state and central governments, but the speed of response is not very fast as compared with other countries. India stands to lose its guests.”

It is mention-worthy here that both India and Korea have jointly pledged to increase the bilateral trade to USD50 billion by 2030.

Ironically, Indian trade volume with Korea is just 2 percent of the total overseas trade volume of Korean, while with China it is more than 25%, and Korean-ASEAN trade volume is more than 10%. India does not have more than 700 Korean companies in India, where the number of Korean companies operating in China and Vietnam is over 50,000 and 7000, respectively.

“We are always looking for new markets, and want to expand from ASEAN countries to India, which has huge potential and a big market. So, If you have more speed, you can attract more investment from Korea,” said Mincheol Kim adding that India has failed to attract Korean SMEs.

Off late, Korean Small & Medium Enterprises Association in India (KOSMA)  has been formed in India to prepare an ecosystem for facilitating smooth entry of Korean SMEs into India, a difficult turf.

Recently KIA Motors successfully established its factory in Karnataka. According to the Korean business community, Karnataka is the best state in the country in terms of ease of doing business, providing land, water, highways, electricity, and other infrastructure facilities.

When asked about Haryana, the Minister Counsellor, Republic of Korea Embassy, said that unfortunately despite having many large Korean companies set up their headquarters in Haryana, it had failed to attract more Korean companies especially the SMEs.

“We are knocking the doors of the Haryana government too. Haryana state has many advantages as it has many many big Korean companies, and SMEs want to start their business here but the Haryana government did not take advantage of this. Haryana state should target SMEs now as big companies already there,” Kim added.

Kim advised that the Haryana state should provide the place and infrastructure near NOIDA area as LG and Samsung are already operating there.

“If the Haryana government can set up Industrial Park for Korean SMEs, it will be a good idea. From there they can expand their business to Indian companies. The India Korea Golf Meet was a good start and we feel comfortable working with the Haryana government,” said Mincheol Kim.