Arun Jaitely’s four days visit to South Korea

Union Minister of Finance, Defence and Corporate Affairs, Arun Jaitley was on an official visit to South Korea from 14^th -17^th June 2017. During the course of this visit, Arun Jaitley participated in the India-Korea Financial Dialogue and the 2nd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of AIIB.

India, S Korea agree to increase investment to push infra, bilateral trade

Indian and South Korea have signed agreements to establish $9 billion in concessional credit and $1 billion in Official Development Assistance (ODA)funding for infrastructure development projects in India

• With this, South Korea became one of the first non G-7 countries to offer ODA to India.
• The signing of the credit and ODA agreement was to implement a decision taken during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi toSouth Korea in May 2015.
• Part of this fund will be deployed towards the smart city projects in 

India-Korea Financial Dialogue in Seoul

On June 14, 2017, Arun Jaitley co-chaired the fifth India-Korea Financial Dialogue in Seoul with South Korea Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon.

• India and South Korea agreed upon the need to stimulate investment flows in times of increasing risk of global protectionism.
• The two ministers reviewed the international economic situation, and India-Korea bilateral economic ties in that context.
• Kim Dong-yeon emphasised the importance of development of the special strategic partnership with India.
• The dialogue was followed by the Signing Ceremony of Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) agreement between India and South Korea and thereafter, an MOU was signed between EXIM Bank of India and South Korea’s KEXIM Bank.

2nd Annual Meeting of Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

The second annual meeting of the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was held on June 16, 2017 in South Korea’s Jeju Island.

• This meeting was jointly hosted by AIIB and South Korea. The meeting was chaired by South KoreaDeputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon.
• The theme of this year’s annual meeting was “Sustainable Infrastructure”.
• The meeting was attended by 2000 participants, including delegations from member countries, international organizations and academia as well as businessmen, financiers and journalists.
• The attendees also included over 20 finance ministers of the 77 approved AIIB members such as Australia, China, Georgia, India, Indonesia and Laos.
• During this second annual meeting of governors, AIIB approved the membership of Argentina, Madagascar and Tonga.
• Several bilateral meetings between chief delegates were also held on the sidelines of the meeting.

AIIB To Hold 3rd Board Of Governors Meet In Mumbai Next Year

Board of Governors of the AIIB at their second annual meeting announced that its third annual meeting will be held in Mumbai in June 2018.

• The objective of conduct the meeting in India is to deeply engage with local businesses and draw on the infrastructure expertise that India can offer.
• It is to be noted that AIIB approved $150 million equity investment loan to the India Infrastructure Fund on June 15, 2017, the bank’s first such loan to fund private projects.

Other key events attended by Arun Jaitley during his visit to South Korea:

• 14^th June, 2017: Meeting with Korean Defence Minister, Gen Han Min-koo. Rapidly growing bilateral defence partnership was discussed during this meeting.
• 15^th June, 2017: Breakfast Meeting with the representatives of the Korean Financial Industry
• 15^th June 2017: One to one Meetings with South Korean Industry leaders including the CEO of Samsung Electronics, and the Chairman of Hyosung Group among others.
• 15^th June 2017: Seminar on ”Doing Business in India” hosted by the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), FICCI and the Indian Embassy in South Korea.
• 16^th June 2017: AIIB Workshop on ”Energy Strategy of the AIIB”.

Quick Facts about Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB):

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank that aims to support the building of infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region.

• It was proposed by China.
• AIIB was formed on January 16, 2016.
• Headquarters of AIIB is located in Beijing, China.
• With authorised capital of $ 100 billion, China is the largest shareholder with 26.06% voting shares.
• India is the second largest shareholder with 7.5% voting rights followed by Russia 5.93% and Germany 4.5%.
• Jin Liqun is the current President of AIIB.

Quick Facts about South Korea:

• Capital: Seoul
• Currency: South Korean Won
• Current Prime Minister: Hwang Kyo-ahn