Union Finance Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee and the Minister of Strategy and Finance of the Republic of Korea, Mr. Yoon Jeung-Hyun met today alongwith their official delegations for their 2nd bilateral meeting. The first bilateral meeting of Finance Ministers was held in Seoul in September 2006. Making his opening remarks, Finance Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that there is lot of commonality of interest among the two countries and can play major role in recovery of global economy from its recent meltdown. He said both the countries have common approach to global issues and are making serious efforts for stronger and sustainable growth. He also emphasized the need for institutionalizing the financial and economic cooperation and dialogue among the two countries. He said that there is a lot of scope for South Indian companies to invest in India in infrastructure sector including transport, power and IT network. He said that both the countries can benefit by sharing of their knowledge in financial and economic areas. 

Visiting South Korean Minister Mr. Yoon Jeung-Hyun in his opening remarks said that these bilateral meetings should be held at Finance Ministers level annually and his country is keen to have strong relationships with India not only in financial and economic areas but other areas as well. He said that there is a lot of scope for cooperation among the two countries in the fields of double taxation avoidance agreement, transfer pricing policy and infrastructure developments among others. 

Later the official delegations of both the countries led by their respective ministers discussed a wide range of issues ranging from macro-economic developments in the global economy, performance and future directions of G20 mechanism, cooperation between the financial supervisory authorities of the two countries, further cooperation in infrastructure and green sector projects through Private-Public Partnerships, issues of tax reconciliation and disinvestment of State Owned enterprises. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the EXIM banks of the two countries for the purpose of promoting trade and investment. Mr. Prabhakar Dalal, Executive Director from EXIM Bank of India and Ki-Sub Nam, Executive Director from Korean Exim Bank signed the MOU. 

India-Korea relations rest on deep historical ties based on a strong foundation of shared cultural heritage, commitment to democracy and desire to establish a long-term cooperative partnership. The cooperation between the two countries covers all areas of bilateral relations, namely political, economic and commercial, defence, information technology, science and technology, cultural exchange, etc. The bilateral meeting between the finance ministers is expected to further strengthen this relationship, increase mutual cooperation in the G20, and lead to increased investment opportunities in the two countries. Memorandum of Understanding promotes bilateral EXIM cooperation to facilitate trade, investment, infrastructure and tax policy coordination. A Memorandum of Understanding between the EXIM banks of India and the Republic of Korea was signed to promote trade and investment, providing an institutional channel for bilateral financial cooperation. The ministers identified cooperative measures including financial supervisory coordination, infrastructure and green sector projects via PPPs, and collaboration on tax matters such as double taxation avoidance, tax reconciliation and transfer pricing, alongside plans to institutionalize regular high level finance minister dialogue.