Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the largest ever business delegation from South Korea to invest in the “free and growing” market in India and bolster the relations between the two ancient civilisations.

Speaking at the 2nd India-Korea Business Summit in New Delhi on Tuesday, 27 February, the PM highlighted the measures taken by his government to improve the ease of doing business in India.

Addressing the event attended by Union Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu and other top officials of Ministry of Commerce and Industry, PM Modi began his speech by referring to the historic ties between India and Korean peninsula.

“From Princess to Poetry and from Buddha to Bollywood – India and Korea have so much in common,” he said.

Praising South Korea’s tremendous economic growth boosted by its leading entrepreneurship in the areas of Information Technology and automobile, the PM said that New Delhi and Seoul can work together in areas such as IT, ship-building, smart city projects, housing, railway stations, water transportation, and electronics – which are promising sectors in India.

On the theme of “India-Korea: Scaling up the Special Strategic Relationship through Trade and Investments”, the PM said that India is the perfect destination for businesses because it is one of the few countries in the world which offers three significant factors for an economy.

“If you see around the globe there are very few countries where you have three important factors of economy together: Democracy, Demography and Demand. In India, we have all three,” the PM pointed out.

Highlighting the vast and talented pool of young and energetic Indian workforce and a rising middle class, the PM said that his government has taken a series of measures to improve both ease of doing business and ease of living, including steps taken on licensing, government approvals, economic reforms and removal of old laws.

“Nearly 65-75 per cent items can now be produced without licenses,” the PM said, adding that there is practically no requirement of government approval for investment in manufacturing sector except in defence.

“We have carried out thousands of reforms on business investment governance and cross border trading front. Some of them such as GST are historic, which have helped improve the ease of doing business,” the PM said.

The PM said that measures such as removal of old laws and arbitrariness and a move towards becoming a digital economy have propelled India’s growth story and represents a complete change of the government’s mindset.

“We are already the third-largest economy by purchasing power. Very soon, we will become the world’s fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. We are also the fastest growing major economy of the world today. We are also a country with the one of the largest Start up eco-systems,” the PM said, while highlighting the massive improvement in country’s rankings on significant trade and economic parameters.

He said that his government’s goal is to transform India from an ancient civilisation to a modern society and create a globally competitive industry and service.

“We are already the third-largest economy by purchasing power. Very soon, we will become the world’s fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. We are also the fastest growing major economy of the world today,” the PM said.

He told the gathering which also had in attendance South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, Baek Woon-kyu, of the formation of ‘Korea Plus’ in June 2016. The agency, the PM said, has facilitated more than 100 Korean investors in just two years and acts as the first reference point for Korean investors in India.

“You will not find such a free and growing market anywhere in the world,” the PM said.