Keen to move forward with POSCO: PM
India Blooms News Service
Seoul, Mar 26 (IBNS) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said his government is keen to move forward with the POSCO project and there is some progress in this regard.
Addressing Korean CEOs during his visit to Republic of Korea, the PM said: "I recognize that sometimes our processes can be slow but there are effective mechanisms for resolution of problems and differences and a strong rule of law. The government is keen to move forward with the POSCO project and there is some progress in this regard."
"I believe that India is a stable and profitable long term investment opportunity," he said.
Saying investment from Korea is a priority for India, Singh said: "We will take pro-active steps to address investor grievances and improve the business climate in the country. Many States of our Union have been actively encouraging foreign investment and we will support these efforts. I urge Korean industry to have faith in India."
He said after the implementation of our bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on 1 January 2010, India-Korea's bilateral trade has surged by roughly 65% in two years and reached a turnover of 20.6 billion US Dollars in 2011.
"However, it is still below its huge untapped potential. Therefore, President Lee and I decided yesterday to revise the bilateral trade target to 40 billion US Dollars by 2015. This is a challenge as well as an opportunity that we must both seize together. I look forward to hearing your views," he said.
The PM said Korean companies have always recognized these strengths and competitive advantages of the Indian economy.
"They were among the early investors to look at India as a strategic investment destination. Korean giants like LG and Samsung are household names in India. Hyundai has a 25% market share in India's domestic passenger car industry," said Singh.
Singh said India has managed to maintain a 7% growth rate for some years.
"India too is one of the fastest growing major economies of the world. Despite the adverse international environment, we have managed to maintain a growth rate of 7% per annum in the last few years.
"I am confident that the strong fundamentals of our economy will help us return to a sustained growth path of about 8-10% per annum in the coming years," he said.
"Our domestic savings rate is about 33 – 35% of our Gross domestic product (GDP) and growing," said the PM.
On May 2, 2011, South Korean steel giant Pohang Steel Company (POSCO) managed to get the final go-ahead signal from India's environment ministry to set up its steel mill and captive port in Orissa.
However, protests halted work at the site chosen by the Orissa government for POSCO in the coastal village of Govindpur as locals were against setting up of the plant.
The 12- billion-dollar steel plant if built will have a capacity of four million tonnes and is touted to be the largest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India so far.
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