Lee`s `sales diplomacy` in India productive: aides

By Lee Chi-dong
NEW DELHI, Jan. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's "sales
diplomacy" pursued during his just-ended four-day state visit to India will prove
to be a great success in the long term, Lee's aides said Wednesday.
Lee, a former business CEO, has gained a reputation for his pragmatic approach to
summit diplomacy highlighted by a whirlwind trip last month to the United Arab
Emirates aimed at assisting a South Korean consortium in its bid for a US$20.4
billion contract to provide four nuclear reactors to the Middle Eastern state.
Lee is widely credited with having helped the consortium win the bidding over
France.
In a series of meetings with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other
political leaders here, Lee appealed to India to open its arms wider to South
Korean firms in various markets including nuclear power plants and defense goods.
"During a summit with Prime Minister Singh, President Lee reaped tangible and
substantial results in sales diplomacy to support various projects sought by the
South Korean government and firms," Lee's spokesperson Kim Eun-hye said.
These include a South Korean plan to take part in India's nuclear power plant
construction, as well as conducting sales of basic trainer jets and building a
gigantic steel mill in the eastern state of Orissa.
The president used much of his 100-minute summit Monday with Singh to publicize
South Korea's experience, expertise, and strength in those fields and asked for
his support, Kim said, adding the Indian leader's response was generally
positive.
She said Singh agreed to the need for a nuclear pact between the two sides, a
prerequisite for South Korea's export of nuclear reactors.
A joint statement issued after the summit also read, "They agreed to facilitate
development of a framework for bilateral civilian nuclear cooperation."
India, with a fast-growing economy and a population of 1.1 billion, currently has
only 17 nuclear power stations with six more under construction. South Korean
officials say India will need as many as 40 nuclear power plants by around 2030
to meet its energy requirements.
The summit deal heralds the immediate start of government-level negotiations on
signing the nuclear accord.
Lee also called for the Indian government to help expedite POSCO's $12 billion
steel project in the South Asian country that has been delayed for about three
years due to land use regulations and a backlash from local farmers.
The Indian prime minister promised efforts to clear the remaining hurdles for
South Korea's leading steelmaker to begin construction of the planned steel mill
complex within the coming months.
As the leaders also agreed to bolster cooperation in the defense industry, South
Korea's push for the sale of its KT-1 basic trainer jet to India received a
boost. India plans to purchase as many as 60 new trainer jets next year,
according to industry sources. The KT-1 jet is priced at about $7 million.
In the summit, Lee also stressed the need to revise an aviation pact between the
two nations so that South Korea's flagship airliners can operate more flights to
and from India.
"The airways should be open to open the hearts of people," Lee was quoted as
telling Singh.
Touching on South Korea's push to export agricultural equipment, Lee said South
Korean products are "most suitable to emerging countries and even to being
exported to the United States."
Lee headed to Switzerland earlier Wednesday to promote his country's bid to host
the 2022 World Cup football finals and its preparations to host the G-20 economic
summit in November.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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