India a Land of Opportunities with 250 million Middle Class

Ambassador of India Vishnu Prakash speaks at Asia Society

by Ms. Seo Yoo Jin

“Combined national wealth of China, India, Japan, South Korea and ASEAN will exceed that of USA & EU in next 18 years.” 

Ambassador of India, Mr. Vishnu Prakash was a guest speaker at the Asia Society, Korea Centre on 19 March. He spoke on “India's ties with South Korea and East Asia; present & future,” where he emphasised that “vibrant business ties constituted the foundation of active cooperation between the two Asian democracies.” He noted that Korea was one of the key “pillars in India’s Look East Policy” and encouraged Korea to take advantage of huge unfolding opportunities in India. 

Quoting NYT columnist Tom Friedman who said “There is hunger in India --- though not for food but for opportunities,” Ambassador Vishnu Prakash underlined that India was home to the third largest pool of highly skilled scientific and technical manpower in the world, which was fuelling its economy. He pointed out that 70% of the total population of India of 1.2 billion, is under 35 years, and by 2020 India’s average age will be 29, compared with 37 years in China and 49 in Europe. 

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Korea-India diplomatic relations. Having served in Russia, China and Japan, Ambassador Prakash came to Korea in January last year. He noted that “India and Korea’s first contact went back to 48 AD when a princess from Ayodhya (India) came to Korea and married King Kim-Suro to become Queen Huh Hwang-ok.” He is also a big fan of Korean pop culture who answered a question from the audience with a famous Korean joke “500 Won for an answer.” 

India grew 7.8% annually on an average, over the last 10 years, and will become the world’s top 3rd economy by 2030. “India provides a strong consumer market with 250 million middle class,” said Ambassador, while also introducing government’s plan on “investment in infrastructure, including airports, railways and highways, of 1 trillion dollars between 2013-2017.” Another 100 billion dollar investment will go into defence procurement over the next 5 years. “We strongly urge participation of Korean companies in India’s development story,” Ambassador added.

Korean presence in India is truly significant. Since the implementation of CEPA between Korea and India in 2010, bilateral trade has been increased by 70%. New trade target is established at $40 billion by 2015. 

50% of home appliance market share in India is with Korean companies. Over 400 Korean companies are present in India. Samsung is selling 3 million mobile phones every month and Hyundai Motors 640 thousand cars annually in India.

Free translation of article in Maeil Business Newspaper

20 March 2013.