Special Lecture Report

Self Reliant India Campaign Blowing in India

Lecturer: Kim Moon-young (Director, Indian Economic Management Research Institute, KOTRA Academy)

The special lecture was conducted in the following order: 1. India's economic overview, 2. Indian recent economic trends, 3. Korea-India trade and investment status, 4. Korea-India CEPA overview and utilization plan.

First, basic Indian national status and economic overview were explained. Next, India's economic trends were presented as a diagram recently announced by KOTRA. In particular, contents related to the recent COVID-19 trend in India, Indian economic outlook in the future, the composition of each importing country, India's deficit with China, and the Indian government's concerns were introduced. By analyzing the recent chart, the lecture was conducted visually to make it very easy for the audience to understand.

Next, an introduction to the Indian government's vision for the 2030s was made. In particular, this part was explained in connection with the Indian government's energy policy and solar power business in the future. India is actively promoting the solar energy industry, which has been a major cause of the deficit in trade with China because most of the facilities used here are made in China.

Next, a commentary on the Modi government's Self Reliant India Policy was made. The previous manufacturing promotion policy, which had been indiscriminately implemented while paying incentives, has recently turned selective and discriminatory.

Next, the discussions on trade trends between Korea and India continued. Korea's export and import items to India were introduced. According to this, Korea mainly exports manufacturing intermediate products such as semiconductors and auto parts to India, while importing raw materials such as naphtha and aluminum from India.

Additionally, the current status of FTA of India was introduced. It also explained the effect of tax reduction through CEPA. Furthermore, which country is advantageous to Korea, India, China, or Vietnam, was also incisively discussed.

Overall, this special lecture was a good opportunity to understand not only India's overall economic situation visually through KOTRA's latest statistical chart, but also Modi government's new direction on the Indian economy.