Andhra CM to visit South Korea on three-day tour

Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is visiting South Korea visit on a three-day tour.

Dr. Parakala Prabhakar, Advisor to government of Andhra Pradesh, addressed the media at a press conference to brief the media about the Chief Minister's forthcoming trip to South Korea.

The CM led delegation will visit South Korea between December 4-6, 2017, said Dr. Parakala Prabhakar.

The representatives of the government accompanying CM Naidu include Amarnath Reddy, Minister for Industries, Food Processing, Agri-Business, Commerce & Public Enterprises; Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, Minister for Finance & Planning, Commercial Taxes, Legislative Affairs; Dr. Parakala Prabhakar, Advisor (Communications); Sai Prasad, Principal Secretary to CM; Solomon Arokia Raj, Secretary (Industries); Jasthi Krishna Kishore, CEO of Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board; Ahmed Babu, CEO of Real Time Governance and VC & MD APIIC; and Preetam Reddy, Special Representative to Government (Industrial & Infrastructure Development Department).

There will also be a small contingent of business delegates accompanying CM Naidu, which includes: Srini Raju, Chairman of Sri City; Sannareddy Ravindra Babu, Founder and MD of Sri City; Jaydev Galla, Managing Director of Amara Raja Batteries; C. Saravanan, President (Marketing) of Brandix; Venkat Nekkanti, Executive Director of Nekkanti Seafoods Limited; and Anil Yendluri, Director & CEOP of Krishnapatnam Port.

Dr. Prabhakar established the purpose of the visit as an effort to garner increased investment interest to Andhra Pradesh.

He said that the key elements of the trip are two MoU signings with Kia Motors ancillaries, visit to KIA Motors headquarters, business seminar in partnership with Krishnapatnam Port and Kia Motors, two major roadshows, visits to Pusan Newport Company (Busan), Nok-san National Industrial Complex (Busan) and Myeongji Free Economic Zone.

Kia Motors will be investing almost $2 billion (one of the state's largest FDI in recent years) to set up an ultra-mega integrated automobile project in Anantapur, said Dr. Prabhakar.

This deal attracted the interest and attention of many investors in South Korea.

The state has already attracted a cumulative investment of Rs. 24,754 crore in the automobile sector, from leading companies of the sector.

On November 9, the Chief Minister met with a delegation of 20 entrepreneurs from South Korea lead by Consul General Jeong Deok-Min. The delegation proposed to establish a 'South Korea City' in Andhra Pradesh, bringing in at least 30 companies to set up their units.

On December 4, an MoU will be forged between Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board and Assetz group for the development of a world class "SMART industrial City" in Anantapur which includes: Industrial park, logistics park and warehousing, commercial space, housing (affordable as well as luxury), golf course, legoland and wellness centre.

Twenty-nine companies in written and 10 more companies have orally expressed their interest in investment in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Twenty-seven tier 2 and 3 ancillaries of Kia Motors have issued LoIs, and will invest approximately Rs. 8,000 crore. The cluster of Korean companies will be spread across 850 acres, and generate employment for 30,000 people in Anantapur.

Other key bilateral meetings planned are with Lotte Corp, Kokam Co. Ltd., OCI Company Ltd., Youngone and Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.