Leverage on India-Korea MoUs

India has a lot to learn from South Korea in terms of innovation in the manufacturing sector and creating a robust industrial base as it moves on to strengthen its own manufacturing sector, said a Principal Economic Adviser at the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

Anand Singh Bhal conceded: “India is not a very strong manufacturing nation and (the sector) only contributes to 16% of our GDP which is not very good.”

The learnings from Koreans and their implementation will also create large avenues for employment, the burden of which is currently borne by the services sector, he said at the ‘India – Korea Technology & Education Exchange Forum’ held on 6 Dec 2018.

A series of agreements have been signed with Koreans to further strengthen initiatives such as ‘Make in India’, ‘Skill India’, ‘Digital India’, ‘Start-up India’ and ‘Smart Cities Mission’.

Two such MoUs were signed by the Korea India Business Centre (KIBC) and Korea Productivity Center (KPC) with National Productivity Council (NPC).

Explaining the Korean strategies, Dr Noh Kyoo Sung, Chairman & CEO, Korea Productivity Center, said that Korea’s Fourth Industrial Revolution sought to implement the intelligence innovation project on a large scale.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution will be a golden opportunity for Korea as software is the core technology serving as the convergence of every industry, he said of the Koreans’ strategic approach to the future of industries.

Touching on the MoUs, NPC Director General Dr Amita Prasad called for India-Korea partnership India’s flagship initiatives.

Elaborating, she said the Indian government has planned to develop five incubation centres for Internet of Things (IoT) start-ups as part of Prime Minister’s plan of ‘Digital India’ and ‘Start-up Campaign’ with at least two centres to be set-up in the rural areas to develop solutions for smart agriculture.

Under the ‘Make in India’ initiative, the Government aims to increase the share of the manufacturing sector to the gross domestic product (GDP) to 25% by 2022.

For this, the New Industrial Policy is to be announced soon.

It will address the challenges faced by the manufacturing sector encompassing of adoption of standards and quality control to impart competitiveness and take Indian manufacturing to the next level of technology to make the country’s industrial base strong, he disclosed.

The forum was organized in Delhi by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) jointly with KIBC and KPC on 6 Dec 2018 in Delhi. fiinews.com