Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that India and South Korea will almost double their bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2030. The two countries currently have a bilateral trade of $27 billion. The PM was hosting South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Monday.“Today, bilateral trade between India and Korea has reached $27 billion. Today, we have taken several important decisions to increase this to $50 billion by 2030,” the PM said while speaking at the press briefing following the bilateral meeting with Lee. The two countries will cooperate in energy, critical minerals, shipbuilding, semiconductors and steel to achieve the $50 billion trade target in four years.
PM Modi and President Lee have agreed to revive the 2010 trade agreement for more balanced trade and greater access to each other’s markets.
The South Korean President is on a three-day visit to India since Sunday. This is the first state visit to India by a South Korean president in eight years. “To facilitate financial flows between the two countries, we have launched the India-Korea Financial Forum. To strengthen business cooperation, we have formed an Industrial Cooperation Committee. To increase cooperation in critical technology and supply chains, we are starting the Economic Security Dialogue. To facilitate the entry of Korean companies, especially SMEs, into India, we will also establish Korean Industrial Townships, and within the next one year, we will also upgrade the India-Korea Trade Agreement,” PM Modi said at the press briefing.During a dinner with members of the Korean community in New Delhi on Sunday, Lee said economic ties between India and Korea remained underdeveloped.“The level of economic cooperation between South Korea and India is still very low. Going forward, we will expand that space and make the relationship completely different from what it is now,” he had said.