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South Korea is keen on exploring investment opportunities in North Eastern state of Sikkim in multiple sectors including renewable energy, pharmaceutical, food processing, tourism.

In the first-ever visit to the North-east region of India, a high-level delegation of senior officials of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, Korean Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), and Korea- Startup Centre, K-sure, and Korea India Research & Innovation Center (KIRI) met Bedu Singh Panth, Minister of Commerce and Industries in Gangtok on Friday.

The Korean delegation mentioned during the meeting that Korean companies from India as well as from Korea would be interested in investing in Sikkim for reasons such as availability of skilled manpower and efficient talent pool, raw material, proximity with the East Asian countries, and markets, etc.

According to Kwang Seok Yang, the Commercial Attache, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, "Korea has invested mainly in automotive, electronics, and chemical sectors since the 1990s and now expands its interest to various industries such as pharmaceutical, energy, organic farming, food processing, and tourism. I hope Sikkim is exposed to more Korean companies after this visit."

Moon Young Kim, the managing director of KOTRA South Asia Region said, "Korean companies tend to be bold and try to be pre-emptive, so Sikkim can be one of the favourable destinations considering its various potentials. Based on this, we shall explore multiple opportunities with Korean companies operating in areas like renewable energy, pharmaceuticals, organic farming, food processing, and other sectors. We can leverage each other's strength for mutual benefit".

The delegation discussed economic and bilateral cooperation between Korea and the Sikkim Government in renewable energy projects in the State as it has huge potential for power generation, which is largely untapped. The two sides also explored the possibility of collaboration between the Korean companies and the state in several other sectors such as pharmaceuticals, food processing, organic farming, and tourism.

Korea is among major investors in India with Korean companies present in both consumer and manufacturing sectors. KOTRA wishes to further enhance the bilateral trade between the two countries.