‘Turmeric Man’ training young Korean entrepreneurs to invest in Indian stock market

NEW DELHI: Global investors are pouring money into India, and are picking stocks as the market here is attractive not only because it is insulated from China but also is emerging as a strong parallel offshore manufacturing hub, and it has a healthy consumer base as well as a sizeable young population.

As nearly $16.5 billion foreigners have invested in Indian stocks this year with India being in an attractive position as compared to its regional peers, Korean investors and businessmen also do not want to lag behind, and are gearing up to invest in Indian stocks in a big way. Bullish on India, and its evolving economic prospects, the Korean business community- especially the young entrepreneurs is learning the nuances of investing in the Indian stock market, and investing big in it.

On Sunday, over 75 Korean micro and small entrepreneurs gathered at Korean SME & Startup Centre in Gurugram for a familiarization session on investing in the Indian stock market organized by the Korean Youth Commerce Association in India (KYCI), a trade body representing Korean young self-employed, micro-entrepreneurs, and start-ups in New Delhi and NCR towns, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, and other cities of India. The event was supported by the United Korean Association in India, an apex body of 17,000 Korean nationals working in India.

The session was addressed by an investment and business analyst Kang Hwang Man, also known as ‘Turmeric Man’ among the Korean community, the author of a book titled 인도투자하자 – 인도 주식 투자 입문 (Let’s invest in India – An Introduction to investing in India).

During the session, the Turmeric Man made the participants – the young budding Korean micro-entrepreneurs, aware of the Indian market scenario with a macro overview of the country. Kang Hwang Man has been in India for about 12 years since his family came to work in India. During this course, he witnessed India developing firsthand, and eventually developed an interest in the Indian economy, industry, and companies, and started investing in Indian stocks, and the outcome was successful.

While talking about his book which he gifted to all the participants, he said, “This book is a summary of what I studied for investing in India. It begins with ‘Why should you invest in India?’ For a good cause.

India has a large land area and is rich in resources. It is full of young people with a desire to excel. I also included an overview of the Indian stock market information to understand the Indian market. We looked at the top  100 stocks and introduced major industries.”

In this 222-page book written in the Korean language, the ‘Turmeric  Man’ introduced Indian investment products, funds, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), and stocks, guided the readers through the characteristics of each product, and also learned about major companies.

Kim Jin Bum, President of the Korean Youth Commerce Association in India, said, “We wanted the young Korean entrepreneurs who are already staying and operating in India to know about the stock market opportunities in India, which is growing very fast as compared to other countries. This session was meant to make them aware of the Indian stock market and related business avenues available to them.” He is also the MD of India’s largest Korean restaurant chain ‘Gung The Palace’.

In his special remarks Euy Don Park, President of the United Korean Association in India, said that most Korean expats in India believed in Indian dynamics and strong growth to become G3 (world no. 3) soon. “And they are also expecting the next level of Korea-Indian ties and cooperation to cope with the era of India Pacific. The market cap is showing the record high score almost every passing day again and again, and Sensex keeps soaring,” added Park.

He also talked about the history of KYCA, which was set up by the United Korean Association in India in 2021 to help and encourage young businesses that are challenging Indian opportunities and the Indian dream in India. “I am very happy at witnessing the growth of KYCA just like today’s event seminar organization,” added Euy Don Park.