Korea, India Set $10 Billion Trade Target

By Philip Dorsey Iglauer
Staff Reporter

India’s Ambassador N. Parthasarathi speaks about the rapid growth in India-Korea trade during an interview at the Indian Embassy, Hannam-dong, Seoul. /Korea Times Photo by Lee Seong-ho The first-ever state visit of Indian President Abdul Kalam, from Feb. 6 to Feb. 9, signifies the importance India attaches to its relations with Korea, and will be an excellent chance to focus on the common values the two countries share.
The visit adds to the momentum toward comprehensive economic and political engagement.
"The deep connection the two countries have is evidenced by the marriage of Princess of Ayodhya, Hur Hwang-ho, and King Kim Suro, founder of the Kaya Kingdom, some 2,000 years ago," said India’s Ambassador N. Parthasarathi, in a Korea Times interview at the embassy in Seoul.
There are literally hundreds of references to India, however, in Korea’s "Samguk Yusa (The History of Three Kingdoms)," he said. "Sutras, moreover, were delivered in the Sanskrit language."
Trade and economics are important, and there will invariably be much talk on enhancing economic relations during the president’s visit, but according to the ambassador, the two countries share common traditions and have a similarity in thinking and values.’
Countries in this region are the fastest growing in the world. Korea and India face the problems endemic with fast-growing economies, he added.
"We have similar problems as a result, with the widening rich-poor gap, with providing quality health care, education and maintaining good infrastructure so that we can maintain high productivity into the future," he said.
President Roh Moo-hyun’s visit to India in October 2004 was a milestone in India-Korea relations.
Both countries seek to maintain peace and stability in Asia. Based on enhancing their relations, they agreed to a "Long-term Cooperative Partnership," and set up a joint study group to broaden economic exchanges.
Ministerial-level meetings were held in December 2004 and August 2005, and the two governments are taking steps to intensify links in many sectors in addition to economic ones. For example, a bilateral treaties extradition and on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters have been signed and enacted.
The Korean government office in Mumbai has been upgraded to that of Consular-General.
But Korea and India have not lost sight of the importance of trade. Korea is India’s ninth largest trading partner and India is Korea’s 19th largest partner and the pace of trade is faster than expected. They set a $10 billion target for 2008, but trade is already at $6 billion, so it should surpass expectations ahead of schedule.
Joint Business Council meetings and the Korea-India Joint Committee on Investment Promotion should further boost trade and investment relations.
POSCO is going through with plans to build a steel plant in Orissa, investing about $12 billion.
Korea is a success story, as the country has transformed an agrarian economy into a hi-tech industrialized nation in one generation, Parthasarathi said.
"There is undoubtedly a lot India can learn from Korea," he said.
"But we are on a different course," he added. "There is no other country with more than a billion people, with the tremendous linguistic, cultural and religious diversity and that has attempted to modernize its society and transform its economy within the framework of a functioning democracy."
India has achieved sustaining growth of 6 percent over the last 15 years and 7 percent the last two years, according the ambassador.
India’s economy is on an ascending trajectory, and Korea and India’s development models have many complementarities, and this is true, in part, because their societies share common Asian values, he said.
Korea’s foreign trade with the United States exceeded $500 billion in 2005. So, the bilateral trade with India is only 1 percent of that massive volume. That being said, trade with India has tripled the last decade.
Parthasarathi was effusive about all the pluses of India to Korean enterprise. Samsung, LG, Hyundai and other Korean companies have been very successful in India, the ambassador said.
India’s middle-class is large and expansive, and is a great consumer market for Korean exports. India has a lot to offer as a place for investment of Korea’s technologically sophisticated and surplus foreign reserves. India has a fast-growing middle-class, a skilled English-speaking workforce. It can also serve as a regional base to markets in the Middle East and South Asia.
Trade and enhancing mutual exchanges will be on the agenda of President Kalam, who, as a scientist. Is interested in scientific education and exchanges in know-how and technology.
He will visit Samsung’s semiconductor chip plant in Kihung, Kyonggi Province, and Taedok Science Town in Taejon. The two countries are to sign treaties with regard to scientific technology transfers and customs duties. Kalam will address four major business groups, including the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) during his visit.
India’s head of state is also interested in youth and the Asian leaders of tomorrow. He will give a special lecture at Yonsei University with emphasis on the importance of youth leadership, and will also address the National Assembly.

ephilip2005@hotmail.com
02-06-2006 21:00
Original link

Republic Day 2006

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Indian Paintings Hit Seoul

Indian Ambassador to Seoul N. Parhasarathi, left, delivers a speech during an opening ceremony of the painting exhibition “Have I ever seen India” while painter Lee Ho-shin looks on, at Hakgojae in Kwanhun-dong, Seoul, Wednesday.


Ever since a Korean painter traveled 50 days in India in 2003, he has not been able to keep the country from his mind. So he decided to have a painting exhibition to fully bring out his obsession with the country.
Lee Ho-shin, 49, opened his 11th painting exhibition "Have I ever seen India" at Hakgojae Gallery in Kwanhun-dong, Seoul, on Wednesday. The exhibition will run until Jan. 24.
Exploring Calcutta, Bombay, Himalayan Annapurna and Ajanta, the painter captured the history, culture, religion and the realities of India on Korean paper called "hanji."
The exhibition shows 41 paintings on hanji. The paintings are of such people and places as India’s former leader, Mahatma Gandhi, the Taj Mahal in Agra, the Ganges River, the Ajanta Caves, Indian children, and Indians’ spiritual daily lives such as prayer and meditation.
Though the painter said he held this event to thank those who contributed to his trip to India, people present at the opening all agreed that they knew he would love India and it would inspire him to paint.
"When I look at paintings of Lee Ho-shin, I can feel they are alive," Indian Ambassador to Seoul N. Parthasarathi said. "Look at this Mahatma Gandhi, I can hear him whisper a message to me."
The ambassador went on to say that the illustration of the Ganges River and people bathing in it makes him feel the wind at the riverside. "Painter Lee’s works represents a harmony between life and nature."
The ambassador’s comments reflected the work of the well-known painter who draws the correspondence between nature and human beings as lively as possible. To show what he felt in India, he sent 140 picture-letters to acquaintances in Korea while he was traveling.
Parthasarathi even called Lee "karma yogi" as the painter really seems to be born to produce great paintings to complete his karma in life.
Lee In-ho, former Korean ambassador to Russia, echoed the view, saying that something like a spiritual aura emanates from the paintings, which connect nature, humans and life. "For example, I am moved more when I look at Lee’s paintings than when I see the real things that are depicted in the paintings."
Actually, the painter also wrote about the country in his travels. He held a publication ceremony of his book "Have I ever seen India?" along with the exhibition.
He felt that the paintings alone couldn’t express the India he experienced.
Asked why the title of the exhibition and the book is "Have I ever seen India?", the painter-cum-writer said it’s probably because he is not sure if he saw and experienced India 100 percent.
Nevertheless, Lee’s works show he has a deep insight of India as critics have indicated.
Kim Hak-ryang, curator of Seoul Museum of Art, said Lee does not belong to a group of painters who rely on theory, and defined him as a painter who works through field research.
"Lee listens to trees, birds and grass and meets people for a while, and absorbs the feelings, and then he begins to take a brush to paint," Kim said.
More information of the exhibition is available by calling the gallery at (02) 739-4937.

By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter

Out & About

Afternoon Tea with Mohini Singh
Mr Shriram and Malaysian Amb.

Annapurna Indian Women's Club in Seoul

Diwali Pictures

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Summit paves way for productive partnerships

12 December 2005

India looking forward to comprehensive engagement with participants in new grouping

By N. Parthasarathi Indian ambassador to Korea

The inaugural East Asia Summit being held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Dec. 14, is in more ways than one a historic event.
The East Asia Summit brings together countries with increasing inter-linkages and growing interdependence in a region that has emerged, and is likely to remain an increasingly important area of growth and influence globally.
The summit would be an occasion for the leaders of participating countries to articulate a strategic and responsible vision for the future of the region in the world.
India has been invited to the First East Asia Summit. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will be participating in the summit. The idea of an East Asian Summit is in consonance with India's own long term perspective of development of the Asian region. The Prime Minister has already proposed in the 3rd India-ASEAN Summit held in Vientiane that the coming together of the East Asian countries would be an anchor of stability and prosperity for the region and beyond. It would constitute an arc of advantage across which there would be large scale movement of people, capital, ideas and creativity.
India's foreign policy aims at a comprehensive, productive, meaningful and mutually beneficial relationship with all countries in the world. In particular, in the past decade, India has been rapidly developing multifaceted relations and cooperation with ASEAN as well as with Korea, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, in what is now being termed as India's 'extended neighborhood.'
There is tremendous scope for this engagement to deepen and strengthen existing areas of cooperation and explore new vistas.
India's growing role in political and economic spheres in the region and the world is gaining increasing recognition. The participation of India in the East Asia Summit is an indication of this growing role of India.
India is now actively engaged in the world economy and is playing a very proactive role in the World Trade Organization. We have concluded free trade agreements in SAARC, with Singapore and Thailand. There is optimism that in the next few years, we would see considerable increase in economic cooperation in Asia covering all major Asian economies and extending to Australia and New Zealand.
India's "Look East Policy" is now over a decade old. The fact that successive governments in India continued with these policies shows the extent of consensus there is within India of the validity and importance of this policy. India has been participating at summit level with ASEAN countries since 2002. The partnership will help in exploiting the synergies and complementarities between India and ASEAN.
India is a microcosm of the globe because of its sub-continental size and the population accounting for nearly one sixth of humanity. India has shown to the world that it is conscious of its responsibilities and there is greater understanding of India's security and strategic interests. India is the world's largest democracy and is one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
Areas of strength in our economy are not confined to IT and biotechnology. India has entered into its second phase of liberalization, a phase of consolidation backed by strong domestic consensus. India believes that it is well placed to both contribute to globalization as well as reap its benefits. India's constructive contribution to the globalization process is well recognized.
By participating in the First East Asia Summit, India looks forward to comprehensive engagement with member countries. Our first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, had the foresight to prophesize, the 'emergence of Asia in world affairs will be a powerful influence for world peace.' The East Asia Summit is a major step forward in realizing this prophecy.
We are optimistic and confident the First East Asia Summit will pave the way for productive and constructive long-term partnerships in the region.

Philosopher envoy working hard for closer ties

December 5th 2005
















India's current ambassador has only been in the job for just 2-1/2 months, but he's been extra busy showing visiting delegations around and meeting local companies and government officials so he can push relations to an even higher level.
"Korea is very important in the region and getting more important, and so is India. What is fantastic in our relations is the way they are growing. It is like being in the right place at the right time," N. Parthasarathi said in an interview with The Korea Herald.
Exuding excitement and energy, the 51 year-old envoy openly discussed how he changed careers, his philosophy about Indian society and religion, and his plans and hopes on bringing together two opposite sides of Asia.
Looking to improve relations between India and South Korea, Parthasarathi is looking into every angle.
"We just had a cultural dance performance. Our president will be coming in the next few months... ministers are coming. We are going to develop tourism. We are increasing the capacity to issue more visas. Right now we issue 50,000 visas to Koreans every year," he said.
Both countries share good political relations. In terms of commerce, there are huge investments underway, such as a 12.4 trillion won mining and production plant in the northeastern state of Orissa which will output an estimated 12 million tons of steel annually.
"It's a mind boggling amount. It's an old state with an old steel mill. It's an area with lots of iron and nearby there's a port," he said.
He meets regularly with so many industry leaders and chambers of commerce and others dealing with economy and trade that he's fast becoming an expert in Korean commerce and the political system.
On the cultural side, Parthasarathi is arranging a Buddhist exhibition with special artifacts from India. "We also want to host an India week with lots of events," he said.
"There is one guy who is interested in doing something to improve relations" is the message he repeats over and over, saying he feels the key to promoting relations is by creating friendships among both peoples.
Married for 26 years with two daughters, Parthasarathi started off as an engineer 30 years ago before being advised by friends to join the Foreign Service.
"In engineering the field is narrow but the Foreign Service gives you a broad canvas. It also gives you the freedom to identify the areas which are in your country's interest so you can do a lot. For example, we deal with small projects to a giant steel mill; it's (POSCO deal) a massive project. I'm trying to facilitate that. So it gives a fantastic opportunity to do a lot and I've never regretted it (switching careers)."
So, is it all work and no play? Not by a long shot - Parthasarathi enjoys golf, playing bridge and writing novels.
He wrote a thriller, in the style of Sydney Sheldon and Dan Brown, which is available at www.amazon.com.
"It's a real thriller. I mixed everything in it," he said. "It's set in India and Pakistan. It's a fast-reading book. When reading it, you get to learn as well as read a good story."
Titled "The Reluctant Assassin," it is a story about a boy from a simple background born in India whose mother lives in India while his father is in Pakistan. The boy grows up in India and flees to neighboring Pakistan to avoid the police. Once there he is trained as a terrorist and eventually gets into politics.
"It's got everything, assassinations, terrorism plots, religions, feudalism," Parthasarathi said.
But today's India is anything but fictional. That country is exploding in its development of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and knowledge-based technologies.
"The requirement for such professionals will mean a shortage in the coming years, even in India," he said. "Not only because people are leaving, it's because the growth is progressing so fast that we are not able to meet the requirements."
Parthasarathi explained that India is showing fantastic growth, moving along swiftly from a developing country toward an industrialized country with a momentum that will make it one of the world's leading economies within the next 15 years.
"The only problem we are facing is that our population is large. We have more than a billion people," he said.
He said India was virtually a continent, with every state different in terms of culture, language and script. He noted there are 16 officially recognized languages in India and every religion is present within its borders.
"Yet it's not a melting pot. It's not like a soup where all the ingredients have merged to form one identity. It's like a salad bowl which is also a beautiful dish but each ingredient usually maintains its own characteristic. Put them together and they work together and that is India," he said.
A Hindi by birth, Parthasarathi explained that in India there are thousands of gods and more being created all the time. For example a few years ago there was no deity named Santoshi Ma but someone made a film and said this is a goddess and now there are millions of followers.
"We try to understand our surroundings and adapt ourselves and gather material wealth and try to do everything but the question is how much time have we spent to understand ourselves.
"If we don't understand what is the point of making so much money, where does it take us. We used to be comfortable in the suburb areas then moved to the cities to work for five days just to run away to our weekend home. But the funny thing is that you had it already!" he said jokingly.
(yoav@heraldm.com)
By Yoav Cerralbono 2005.12.05

Snow at the House

First Snowfall in Seoul