Ambassador of Republic of Korea Shin Bongkil on Monday said the Posco episode in Odisha was an "unfortunate experience", but his country is now keen to "move on" and make a fresh start in the state.
Shin said Odisha abounds in natural resources and Korea wants to be the "first country" to reveal the state's potential to the world.
"We had an unfortunate experience surrounding the proposed Posco steel plant in Odisha, which could not be set up due to various reasons," he told reporters.
Shin led a delegation that met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here and discussed investment possibilities in the state.
"Posco's mega investment faced many hurdles and finally could not be materialised. I understand both sides have learnt from the Posco experience and now need to make a fresh start and move on," the envoy said.
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The South Korean steel major could not go ahead with the Rs 52,000-crore Odisha project, mainly due to lack of mineral linkage to feed its proposed 12-mtpa plant.
"That was not only the single largest overseas investment by a Korean company, but also the single largest foreign investment ever made in India," Shin said.
"Korea wants to be the first country to reveal Odisha's potential to the world. Recognising its potential in natural resources, Posco had made the USD 12-billion investment commitment in 2005," the ambassador said.
Patnaik, on his part, called upon the Korean industries to invest in various sectors in the state.
He said there is a significant opportunity for both Korea and Odisha to strengthen trade, investment and tourism exchanges.
Patnaik identified six domains as focus sectors -- electronics manufacturing, petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals, textiles, tourism and downstream to metal and food processing.
The chief minister assured the delegation comprising officials of various companies, including Samsung India, Hyundai Motors, Kia Motors, Samsung Electronics and Korea Trade Insurance Corporation that Odisha would provide a conducive business environment, industry-ready infrastructure and skilled workforce.
Asked about Korea's plans in the state, Shin said, "Small and medium companies cannot start alone. So, bigger companies will create business atmosphere here."
He added that Korean companies could invest in a number of sectors in the state, including agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and services.
Shin said the Odisha government gave a "very impressive" presentation to invite investment from his country.
"The state has a lot of potential, good business environment and infrastructure. Odisha as a state has been growing very fast.
"India's 28 states with a lot of diversity in terms of race, language, religion, culture and others.. are almost like 28 different countries. I believe exchange and cooperation with the state governments are very important for growing Korea-India bilateral relation," he said.
To a question on the slowdown in the Indian economy, Shin said it is temporary. "We are planning for long-term investment".
The envoy said that Korea wants to introduce its martial art Taekwondo in Odisha, too.
Patnaik added that his government would soon promulgate a strategy document -- Vision 2030 -- which aims to ensure that 50 per cent of the primary metals produced in Odisha is value-added within the state.
"In addition, Bhubaneswar is home to some of the largest IT companies in the world and with the advent of embedded systems driven Industry 4.0... sites near the IT behemoths would be an ideal place for electronic products manufacturing by Korean companies," the CM said.
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