Chandigarh: When Korean CEOs arrive in Gurugram for a meeting Friday, Haryana’s civil servants will be ready to woo them for investment — not with long-winded pitches, but with a good old round of golf.
The CEOs of as many as 25 top Korean companies and representatives of Seoul’s Delhi mission have been invited to Gurugram on 19 July for the India-Korea Golf Meet, where the Haryana government will engage the visitors in rounds of golf as they discuss investment opportunities.
Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and some central government secretaries are also expected to participate in this event, which will be hosted at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurugram.
“Usually, seminars and conferences are organised for developing business relations, but promoting Korean investment through golf is innovative and an out-of-the-box idea of the Haryana government,” said Haryana Additional Chief Secretary (Industries and Commerce) Devender Singh.
‘MoUs will be signed’
He said the programme was a joint initiative of ‘Invest India’, a national investment promotion and facilitation agency, and the Haryana government.
“The India-Korea Golf Meet is a unique opportunity for Korean companies to engage with the Haryana government regarding their interests and issues over a… game of golf,” said Singh, adding that other associates helping organise the event included Korea Plus, Korean International Trade Association (KITA) and Haryana Enterprises Promotion Centre (HEPC).
‘Korea Plus’ is the gateway for Korean investors in India, and also includes representatives from the country.
“It acts as a one-stop agency for Korean investors and works closely with the embassies, central and state governments, industrial associations and corporates to generate leads and facilitate Korean investments,” said Singh. The HEPC is a “single window clearance system” for new units or units under expansion, he added, while KITA is a Korean trade body.
The game of golf, he said, will improve relations between the two sides and “some MoUs are likely to be signed the same evening”.
Apart from Kant, Anand Kumar, the secretary for the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, is an invitee, as is Archana Singh, the head for corporate priority at National Skill Development Corporation, a public-private partnership for skill development. Haryana Additional Chief Secretary Singh, a keen golfer himself, is likely to participate too.
The opposition, however, dismissed the initiative as “silly”. “If Haryana officers were to concentrate as much on their work as they do on improving their game of golf, the state government might actually show some results,” said Congress MLA Karan Singh Dalal.
“Like BJP leaders, officers, too, have started taking the public for a ride with such silly ideas aimed at gathering publicity but not real results,” he added.
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Serve them a nice steak, medium rare, after the game.