Tradeindia.com, a B2B marketplace, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Korea International Trade Association (KITA) to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of both the nations.

"We have signed a MOU with the KITA, a state-sponsored agency, to promote trade initiatives to mainly small and midsized enterprises through Web-based marketing," said Bikky Khosla, CEO Tradeindia.com. With the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in operation this year, allowing tariffs and the cost of goods to go down, it is a very good opportunity to agree upon such a partnership. This MOU will go a long way in educating Indian companies about the potential of Korea as a market & sourcing hub especially for the products covered under CEPA. Thanks to CEPA, initial trends show huge potential, in first 2 months since CEPA came into existence on 1st January trade between India & Korea has almost doubled to 2.5 Billion against 1.3 Billion in January & February 2009. " said Khosla.

Presently the Indian economy is growing with the rapidly growing domestic market and so online cooperation in bilateral trade is also expected to encourage businesses in both countries to invest more actively in each other.

"Unlike large conglomerates or suppliers, which have cash for marketing, research and promoting their products to clients or buyers offline, SMEs are limited to fewer opportunities as they are under a tight budget. Online marketing where companies are able to upload their own e-catalogs or products and send or receive e-mails from buyers is open all over the world and is possible at a low cost," Khosla further added, noting a list of sectors and items advantageous to each nation in terms of investment and trade.

"In India, there is high demand in consumer goods, computer hardware, mobile phones, machinery, shipbuilding, construction and infrastructure from Korea," Khosla said.

"On the other hand, Indian companies could export more steel, textiles, and gems and jewelry to Korea," he added.

There are, however, some potential downsides to operating over the Internet.

"Building trust among all suppliers and buyers online is a great challenge for us to overcome. Also, it is our job to educate both Indian and Korean firms of the business opportunities of each other's country."" Khosla said.

TradeIndia.com India's Largest B2B portal accounts for largest share of web-based business-to-business market in India. Under the deal with TradeIndia.com, KITA will jointly work with tradeindia.com to promote Korean products in India & promote Indian products in Korea using each others web & offline resources.

With CEPA in place both India and Korea are looking at bilateral trade worth USD 30 billion by 2014 with India is keen to facilitate fast clearances for South Korean companies investing in India. South Korean companies are major investors in India and estimated South Korean investment in India stands at USD 2.7 billion, which can go up considerably by the tie-up, Khosla added.

Source: Business Wire India

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