India-Korea shakes hands to boost maritime sector; Nitin Gadkari explores avenues to pump up naval infrastructure
Seoul, April 10: Union Minister for Shipping Nitin Gadkari arrived on his 4-day Korea visit to bloom up the bilateral relations. India-Korea shook hands with each other to boost maritime sector and help Korea with big shipping fleet of India.
While India India-Korea Maritime Cooperation Forum kicked off, India inked MOU on Mutual Recognition of Certificates of Competency of Seafarers in presence of Shri @nitin_gadkari & Minister of Oceans & Fisheries of Republic of Korea #ROK. This will help #Korea with its big shipping fleet & India with its large pool of seafarers.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari took 1st hand look at how Busan port has been re-invented by shifting cargo to outer part & using old facility for marine tourism. The highly efficient system of cargo evacuation by road can be exemplifying for Indian ports.
Addressing the India-Korea Maritime Cooperation Forum, Nitin Gadkari said “Our agenda of port led development & #ROKs strength in Maritime sec can create win-win situation. Transportation, ports, energy IT infra, electronics, water are all promising sectors. India-Korea partnership can promote development, stability & prosperity."
Republic of Korea Minister for Ocean and Fisheries & Union Minister Nitin Gadkari attended a business forum in Korea to enhance bilateral cooperation in areas of port development, marine transport, logistics & energy development. A Big Business delegation from Indian maritime fraternity participated in the forum.
In bilateral meeting with Minister of Oceans & Fisheries, Republic of Korea #ROK, potential areas of mutual cooperation like ship repair & recycling, use of LNG as a fuel etc were discussed. Republic of Korea’s strength in fisheries sector will also be leveraged for success of Sagarmala & Blue Revolution.
Further, Nitin Gadkari also visited Samsung Heavy Industries in Geoje, Korea & met their leadership. He suggested to explore the possibility of investing in India for making smaller vessels & components for Inland waterways.
Before heading to Korea, Minister Gadkari informed "Both the nations will sign an undertaking for mutual recognition of certificate of competency of seafarers. It will be beneficial to both the countries as Korea is a large ship owning nation, while India is a large seafaring nation with over 1.5 lakh seafarers. "The agreement will facilitate Indian seafarers to work on Korean ships as there is requirement of seafarers. Korean entities as of now own more than 500 foreign going ships."