India, Korea to ink economic pact soon
Deccan Herald, 2 August 2005
Korea promises visa-on-arrival for businessmen
India, Korea to ink economic pact soon
DH News Service, New Delhi:
Korea woos Indian business to look at the country as a base for their foray into the Northeast Asian market.
The final round of consultations of India-Korea Joint Study Group are to be held soon to finalise its report on the formulation of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the two countries, Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs & Trade Ban Ki-Moon, said here Monday.
Addressing a meeting of business leaders organised by FICCI, Mr Moon, who is leading a high-power 10-member official and business delegation from Korea said, “one of the most effective ways to augment the vast potential that exists between the two countries from their complementary trade and industrial structures is to speed up efforts to establish institutional framework such as relevant laws, systems and consultations between the two governments.”
Responding to a query Korean Minister said the Joint Study Group was looking into the feasibility of CEPA in great detail and “I firmly believe that we will eventually reach an agreement which delves much deeper than a simple FTA and one that goes beyond ordinary regional economic integration.”
He called upon Indian business to look at Korea as a base for venturing into Northeast Asian market in the same manner as Korean companies consider India to be central in their entry into the South Asian region.
While agreeing to seriously consider the issuance of visa-on-arrival at Korean destinations for visiting Indian businessmen, Mr Moon welcomed Air India’s recently launched service to Korea.
This, he said, is expected to make Korea a far reaching gateway for Indians to American continents, while India may become a route for Koreans to link their business networks to Middle East and Europe.
Mr Moon said Korea-India relations went beyond trade and investment ties. Both governments were strongly emphasising political and strategic relations with the objective of reinforcing the foreign policy and security dialogue, cooperation in defence and for engaging in more frequent consultations on regional and global issues.
