Korean electronics firms looking to exit China are keen to invest in UP

State assure responds full support to Korean enterprises setting up base in UP, is planning a logistics park for which the standing policy will be revised

Korean industrialists have expressed interest in investing in Uttar Pradesh amid reports that companies with investments in China are exploring the possibility of moving out of that country following the coronavirus outbreak.

Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) chairman Yongmaan Park has told the UP micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and export promotion minister, Sidhart Nath Singh. He added that Korean electronics makers, looking to move out of China, were keen on investing in the state.

Welcoming the proposal of KCCI, Singh promised that the state government would provide all help to the Korean investors to set up their plants in UP. They were interacting over a video conference yesterday organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

KCCI is the oldest and largest business organisation in Korea. Established as a public legal entity by a special act, it is composed of 73 regional chambers and more than 100 major institutions and organisations related to commerce and industry. KCCI represents approximately 180,000 member companies of all sectors viz. manufacturing to services, and domestic companies to foreign invested companies.

Internationally, the KCCI is a national member organisation of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the World Chambers Federation (WCF), which together form a global network of national chambers of commerce. Each year, KCCI dispatches business mission of Korea’s major enterprises to many countries and organises business forum for visiting foreign leaders of governments and businesses.

Meanwhile, Singh assured the existing industrialists of resolving their grievances, especially pertaining to the current lockdown period. He said the state was planning to set up a logistics park in UP, for which the standing policy will be revised.

“The central and UP governments are collectively working towards bringing the domestic industrial sector back on track. The Yogi Adityanath government is all for making the state policies more amenable for industries to lessen the impact of covid-19,” he noted.

Singh observed that the return of the migrant workers to their native places was a big challenge for rebooting the industries and that a decision would soon be taken under the central guidelines.

Last month, chief minister Adityanath had directed officials to prepare the post-covid economic strategy, including attracting investment from the leading industrialised nations. He had asked UP industrial development minister Satish Mahana and MSME minister Sidharth Nath Singh to start the dialogue process with the ambassadors of these countries.

In fact, the state government has started the process of identifying such corporations mainly based out of Japan, South Korea, USA, European Union etc, so that a targetted strategy could be formulated to woo them.

In a recent meeting, Adityanath underlined it was imperative to plan early for subduing the big economic challenges of the lockdown and that a dedicated team be formed to serve the purpose.