$100 mn fund for Indo-Korean cooperation

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Communications and Manufacturing Association of India (CMAI) announced channelizing $100 million venture fund to promote environment friendly research and manufacturing projects in the ICT sector for Indo – Korean cooperation.

N K Goyal, president, CMAI, also announced that the first ever Korean event in India on digital opportunity, "Digital Opportunity Forum India 2008", will commence in Delhi on 14 August. Ministry of Public Administration and Security, Korea will be hosting the event.

M-Serve award was conferred to KADO, a South Korean Government subsidiary devoted to providing comprehensive support for domestic and international digital divide closure and a book titled "Indo-Korean Business Opportunities" authored by CMAI and released by Dr. Wongeun Park, VP KADO, during the same occasion. The book focuses on Indo-Korean business opportunities and will serve as a reference guide for the business communities between the two countries.

"In spite of the current slowdown in the telecom sector, Korea has become the world’s most exciting broadband market with the highest broadband penetration in the world, which is about 96 percent. This event will enable Indian industry and policy makers to interact with the Korean industry and government to understand the policies and procedures which has resulted into such a high penetration. The Digital Opportunity Forum brings together a unique mix of industry, government and regulatory leaders to explore new business and discuss policies that affect investment in, and growth of the telecommunications sector.

Recognising the potential of ICTs in India, Park Won Geun, deputy secretary general, Digital Opportunity Forum and Vice President Korean Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion, said: "India has immense potential and we wish to partner to support economic growth and development in the ICT sector. We aim at bridging the digital divide by supporting international cooperation to improve access to information and communication infrastructure and technologies; share and exchange knowledge and experiences; build ICT capacity; develop and utilize ICT applications and services; increase confidence in the use and security of ICTs; create an enabling environment; and foster technology exchange and transfer."

The Digital Opportunity Forum is an independent, organisation launched in August 2006 by the Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity and Promotion (KADO) under the Korean Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC).

It is designed to promote international cooperation in the information technology (IT) arena to bridge the global digital divide and to build human capacities and partnership among participating members. It facilitates knowledge sharing on IT policies and national informatization experiences through the human networking of participating members, institutions and countries. CMAI has signed an MoU with KADO in May 2008. KADO is funded by the Ministry of Communications, Korea.

"India is witnessing highest growth in telecom sector with addition of more than 8-9 million subscribers per month. India is already the second highest in telecom subscriber base with 300 million subscribers and is poised to reach 500 million by 2010. The broadband target has been set as 20 million by the year 2010. The country already has embraced CDMA, GSM technology and promotes technology-neutral solutions. India has also decided to promote 3G and has allotted 2.1 GHZ frequency band for this," Goyal added..

For Broadband wireless, India has earmarked 2.5 GHZ band. The auction is most likely to be started within next three months. The 3G auction will be open to all eligible Indian and foreign company. The telecom equipment market will be worth over $20 billion by 2010," said Goyal.