A high powered official-cum-business
delegation led by Chief Minister Haryana, Mr.Bhupinder
Singh Hooda visited Korea & Japan form 26 th
Nov., 2005 to 4 th Dec., 2005. Describing the visit
as “highly fruitful”, the Chief Minister
informed that the prime objective of the visit was
to market Haryana as an ideal destination for investment
with some of the high profile Korean and Japanese
Companies. The delegation included the Industries
Minister, Haryana Mr.Lachhman Dass Arora and senior
Officers of the State Govt. besides some prominent
industrialist of the state.
The delegation reached the Korean capital Seoul
on 27 th Nov, 2005 where the Chief Minister held
a meeting with Mr. Ban Ki Moon, Minister of Foreign
Affairs & Trade. Incidentally, Mr. Hooda is
the first Chief Minister of the state of India to
be invited by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic
of Korea. During this meeting, the meeting, the
Korean Minister informed that a number of companies
form his country are keen to invest in Indian in
general and Hrayana in particular.
The Chief Minister alongwith the members of his
delegation also met Mr. Hawan Eik Cho, Vice Minister,
Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy who suggested
that Haryana should open a ‘Korea Desk’
for meeting the inquiries and assisting in seeking
various clearances required by the investing Korean
Companies. While accepting the suggestion of opening
a ‘Korean Desk’, Mr. Hooda further assured
that his Govt. will also help in facilitating any
clearance at the Govt. of India level in case any
Korean Company chooses Haryana as an investment
destination.
A road show was organized jointly by the Korean
international Trade Association (KITA) and the Indian
Embassy in Seoul where the Chief Minister dwelled
upon the strengths of Haryana for new investment
opportunities. He also invited the Korean Companies
to participate in the development of special Economic
Zones, Industrial Model Townships, Power Sector
and Transport.
The
delegation visited the factory of Samsung Electronics
Ltd. and its Research & Development Centre.
The Korean major confirmed the setting up of mobile
phone production unit at IMT Manesar with an investment
of US$ 15 Million. The company shall be manufacturing
the latest models of their handsets in this unit
for export as well as domestic sales. The land
for the project has already taken up by the company
on lease and the unit is likely to go no stream
by the end of next year. Mr. Ki Tae Lee President
of Samsung Telecommunication informed that his
company was planning to set up several units outside
Korea and Haryana figures prominently in the list
of investment destination. Mr. Lee disclosed that
Samsung has started their manufacturing facility
at China at a level which is similar to the Manesar
project but the Chinese Unit today has emerged
as a major entity all over the world. The delegation
also met Vice President, LG Electronics, IT and
IT enabled services including Nano Technologies.
The management of LG Electronics assured the Chief
Minister of considering Haryana as the destination
for their next venture in India in view of its
location advantages. The delegation also visited
the regional office of Doosan Heavy Industries
and Construction Company. During the meeting that
followed, Mr. Hong Seung Eum, Execitive Vice President
of the Company expressed his interest to take
up infrastructure project in the state of Haryana
independently or in join venture. Doosan is engaged
in Thermal Power generation, Desalination Plants
and construction of heavy factories, express highways
and other infrastructure necessary for environment
management including EPC projects. Standard Diagnostic,
a prominent Korean company manufacturing medical
diagnostic equipment also announced the setting
up of a project in Haryana with a capital cost
of Rs. 125 crore.
