Punjab today offered a plug and play industrial park adjoining the international airport, Mohali exclusively to prospective South Korean investors for setting up their ventures in the state.Announcing this here today during a high level interaction with a South Korean delegation which was presided over by Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal also offered South Korean investors fixed power rates for a ten year period. He also assured that Punjab would provide the cheapest power among all states in the country, to new investors for which a policy was being firmed up.Making an impressive power point presentation before the delegation, Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal asked the heads of the Korean companies to take advantage of the huge incentives being offered by the state government to entrepreneurs. He also assured pre-cleared sites to the Korean investors, saying 600 such sites had already been finalized.
Meanwhile impressed by the presentation of the Deputy Chief Minister the electronic giant Samsung evinced keen interest in investing in the state after which the Deputy Chief Minister asked the Principal Secretary Industries Mr. Anirudh Tewari to take the proposal forward.Batting for strong strategic ties between South Korea and Punjab, Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal today sought the cooperation of South Korea in the fields of education and skill training besides other varied fields of trade, commerce and information and technologyAddressing the members of delegation of South Korea here at Punjab Bhawan, the Chief Minister said India could benefit from the rich experience of South Korea in imparting skill training to the youth of the country. He said that while only 3% of Indians were equipped with technical training the track record of Koreans in this regard was marvellous at 98 percent. Mr. Badal said it was the need of hour to provide quality education to the youth of the state for which Koreans could play a leading role.Terming Punjab as the most attractive investment destination in these and many other areas, the Chief Minister said that the state desired to focus investment in Manufacturing, Infrastructure, Automobile, IT and Consumer electronics sectors. He also enlisted the support of South Korea for development of smart cities in the state.Presenting detailed accounts of business opportunities in the state through a presentation Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal said Punjab had the best infrastructure, industrial, agricultural and work culture index, best agro economy, higher per capita income, higher consumer index, human resource and was the best state for ease of doing business.
He emphasised that Punjab was power surplus, had the best Power T&D infrastructure besides highest density of roads with major 4/6 lane road network, best air connectivity and provisioning of online public services and amenities to the citizens.Briefing the various incentive packages to the new ventures Mr. Badal said State had already setup first of its kind one stop clearance mechanism by establishing Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion to provide approvals of 23 departments in 38 days which would come to 30 days within next two months. He urged the delegation to become a part of growth story of Punjab.In his address, the Ambassador of South Korea Mr. Joon Gyu Lee described the Chief Minister as a living legend who had taken Punjab to new heights of progress and prosperity. He said Korea was particularly keen to forge business ties, joint ventures (JVs), partnerships, mergers and develop other inter-trade mechanisms like appointing dealerships and distributor channels with the industrialists from Northern India, especially Chandigarh and Punjab region.
On the occasion Vice President Samsung Electronics Kyoung Soo Kim evinced keen interest to invest in biometric technology and offered to explore electronic production unit in the state. Speaking on occasion former Ambassador Skand R Tayal Vice president India-Republic of Korea friendship society announced to open branch office of society in Punjab.Sharing his business experiences during the discussions Tarnjit Singh MD Sigma Corporation Ltd. lauded the efforts of State government for industry friendly policies and offered to attract the German investors to Punjab due to its congenial atmosphere for industries and ease of doing business as compared to other states.
Prominent amongst other present on the occasion included Rajya Sabha MP Mr. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Cabinet Ministers Mr. Adesh Partap Singh Kairon, Mr. Madan Mohan Mittal and Mr. Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Media Advisor to Deputy CM Principal Mr Jangveer Singh, Chief Secretary Mr. Sravesh Kaushal, Principal Secretary to Deputy Chief Minister Mr PS Aujla, Secretary Technical Education Mr. MP Singh, Principal Secretary Industries Mr. Anirudh Tiwari, Secretary Local Government Mr. Ashok Gupta, Secretary Technical Education Mr. RK Verma, Special Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr. Gaggandip Singh Brar, Special Principal Secretary to Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Manvesh Singh Sidhu, Director Technical Training B Purusartha and Additional Director Information and Public Relations Mr. Puneet Goyal. The Korean delegation was represented by Ambassador Mr. Joon Gyu Lee besides key members of several Korean companies.