India and South Korea today vowed to explore the possibility of a civil nuclear energy accord, besides expanding the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (Cepa) to strengthen bilateral ties in areas like information technology, engineering, civilian space and financial services.
Korean President Lee Myung-bak, in his address to the country’s leading business chambers here, today said that Korea, a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), had global competitiveness in civil nuclear energy capabilities.
Bilateral trade between India and South Korea is worth over $16 billion and it is expected to jump significantly on the back of the implementation of Cepa from January 1 this year.
The meeting was attended by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, who also urged business leaders from both the sides to seek greater avenues of trade and investment. Some of the major South Korean companies doing business in India are Hyundai, LG and Samsung.
Earlier during the day, President Lee also met External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and discussed the prospects of both sides signing a nuclear energy cooperation treaty in the near future. The two also discussed ways to increase trade between the countries. The issue of speeding up the $12-billion investment made by Korean steel maker Posco in Orissa was also taken up by Lee with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
In a recent analysis done by Ficci, the chamber said both India and Korea should utilise the full potential of Cepa in obtaining greater access in each other’s markets as implementation of tariff reduction under the agreement would act as an advantage for increased merchandise exports from India and Korea.
