India can serve as a key manufacturing and export hub for South Korea amid sweeping shifts in global supply chains, experts at major South Korean economic research institutes and trade agencies said on Monday, 11 May. The assessment came as Seoul moves to deepen its economic ties with the world's most populous nation.

What Experts Said

In a meeting with Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan, experts called for a detailed strategy to help Korean companies expand their footprint in the Indian market. The gathering was convened by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources to explore ways to expand economic cooperation with India in response to shifting global supply chains and rising trade protectionism among major economies.

The experts highlighted that India — with a population of approximately 1.4 billion and a gross domestic product (GDP) exceeding $4 trillion — is rapidly emerging as a global manufacturing destination. However, they acknowledged that infrastructure gaps and a complex regulatory environment have historically made India a difficult market for Korean firms to penetrate.

Key Proposals on the Table

Among the most concrete suggestions was the creation of a dedicated industrial complex for Korean companies in India, which experts said could significantly lower the operational burden for firms already present or looking to enter the market. They also urged a strategic pivot: while Korean companies in India currently focus on importing intermediate goods to manufacture products for the domestic Indian market, experts called for efforts to transform India into a global export base for Korean goods as well.

Diplomatic Momentum Behind the Push

The expert discussions build on recent high-level diplomatic activity. During a visit to India last month, Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan and his Indian counterpart, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, agreed to establish a joint committee to promote industrial cooperation between the two countries. Separately, Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo signed a joint statement with Goyal to facilitate negotiations aimed at improving the bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

These agreements were reached during President Lee Jae Myung's state visit to India for a leaders' summit, where both sides agreed to cooperate on energy supply chains and expand bilateral trade and investment. The summit also saw 20 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) signed between Korean and Indian companies, spanning sectors including steel, shipbuilding, and energy.

Why This Matters for India and Korea

This comes amid a broader global realignment of supply chains, accelerated by US trade protectionism and the reconfiguration of China-dependent manufacturing networks. India's scale and growing industrial capacity make it an attractive alternative, while South Korea's technology-intensive industries stand to benefit from lower-cost production and export diversification. Notably, the push for a Korean industrial complex in India mirrors similar moves by Japan and Taiwan, which have established dedicated zones to ease market entry for their companies. With diplomatic groundwork now laid and institutional frameworks taking shape, the pace of Korean investment into India could accelerate meaningfully over the next few years.