Seoul: Primer Minister Narendra Modi and South Korean President Moon Jae-in held "constructive" talks on Friday on enhancing bilateral cooperation in key areas including trade, investment, defence and security.
Modi, who is on a two-day visit to South Korea to strengthen India's strategic ties with the country, has signed six MoUs including MOU on Extension of Korea Plus, MoU on Start-up Cooperation, MoU between National Highways Authority of India and Korea Expressway Corporation.
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MOU on Extension of Korea Plus is signed with the objective to continue operations of Korea Plus- an organization that facilitates investments by Korean companies in India. Korea Plus was operationalized in June 2016, and comprises representatives from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy of South Korea, Korea Trade Investment and Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and Invest India.
MoU on Start-up Cooperation will promote collaboration among Start-ups and to set up of a Korea Start-up Centre (KSC) in India to commercialize ideas, technologies and designs of Startup companies.
MoU between National Highways Authority of India and Korea Expressway Corporation will promote bilateral cooperation in road and transport infrastructure development projects of India, and facilitate technical and institutional knowledge exchange in the field of road and transport.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the that two leaders held "constructive talks on enhancing cooperation in trade and investment, defence and security, energy, space, start-ups and people-to-people exchanges."
Addressing the media after the talks with President Moon, Prime Minister Modi said that South Korea is an important partner in India's economic transformation.
“In India's economic transformation, we consider Korea as a valuable partner. Our trade and investment relations are growing. Today, President Moon and I have repeated our commitment to increasing our bilateral trade to USD 50 billion by 2030.
“In sectors like Infrastructure, port development, marine and food processing, start-ups and small and medium enterprises, we agree to increase our cooperation,” the prime minister said.
Modi is visiting South Korea on the invitation of President Moon. This is his second visit to the Republic of Korea since 2015 and second summit meeting with the South Korean president.
(Inputs from PTI)
