President Lee visits Hyundai Motor factory in India

By Lee Chi-dong
CHENNAI, India, Jan. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak toured a
Hyundai Motor factory here Sunday, the first official activity in his four-day
state visit to India.
Lee said he "appreciated efforts by Hyundai Motor workers who are playing their
role well as vanguards of civilian diplomacy to enhance South Korea's image,"
according to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.
Opened in 1998, Hyundai's Chennai factory manufactures about 600,000 vehicles
annually, making it the carmaker's largest production line abroad. Hyundai, South
Korea's leading automobile producer, has emerged as the biggest exporter in the
Indian car market.
Following the tour, the president, formerly the CEO of Hyundai's construction
business, met a group of about 20 South Korean businessmen in this industrial
southwestern city.
They included the heads of the local branches of Samsung Electronics, Lotte
Confectionery and Doosan Infracore. Around 150 South Korean firms operate here
including more than 40 subcontractors of Hyundai Motor.
"President Lee was briefed on the operation of South Korean businesses in Chennai
and their difficulties," Cheong Wa Dae said.
Some company officials cited troubles stemming from cultural differences and a
lack of infrastructure such as electricity, port facilities and roads. They also
stressed the need to expand South Korea-India cooperation in the information and
technology sector, Cheong Wa Dae added.
Lee was to head to New Delhi later Sunday to hold a summit with Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh the following day on ways to boost relations between the two
countries.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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