New Delhi: On the fourth day of his visit to the Republic of Korea, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shipping, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Nitin Gadkariaddressed the delegates of the Korea-India Infrastructure Cooperation Forum in Seoul today.Leading members from the infrastructure business of both countries participated and exchanged views on the potential for doing business for mutual benefit. Speaking on the occasion Shri Gadkarisaid that India has plans to construct 12 expressways with an investment of over Rs 1 lakh crore. This, he said, would presents huge opportunities for Korean businesses. Similarly developing the national waterways for commercial navigation in India, and the plans to develop shipbuilding, fisheries and the port sector will also create investment opportunities, he said. Shri Gadkari also conveyed the Indian Government’s commitment for facilitating all foreign businesses who wished to invest in India.
Shri Gadkari earlier met the leading members of the Korean Financial Sector to explore ways of greater RoK involvement in financing interlinking of rivers, highway construction, developing logistics parks and shipbuilding activity in India.. An important part of the cooperation would be to enhance training and discussion among experts from both sides. Indian highway engineers and shipbuilding engineers can be trained at specialised training institutions of Republic of Korea to expose them to the systems in place there. Korean companies expressed keenness to work on the Nagpur Mumbai expressway project.
Shri Gadkari also met the Korean Minister for Land and Infrastructure (MOLIT) Ms Kim Mee Hyun in Seoul today. The two Ministers discussed the prospects of cooperation in developing smart highways.Ms Hyun said thatRoK is committed to enhance cooperation based on the commitments made during the visit of PM Modi in 2015. A draft Memorandum of Cooperation in the Infra sector is likely to be finalised soon. This will provide a sound institutional framework for enhancing bilateral engagement.
In another meeting with theRoK Minister for Environment Ms. KIM Eungyung, Shri Gadkari discussed bilateral cooperation in the area of river cleaning and rejuvenation.
