INDIA-KOREA - Asia-Pacific Business and Technology Report

health
Why Korea and India Should
Move Towards Medical and
Health Care Co-operation
by Kim Cheol Ho
India’s health care policy
is built to provide
universal medical care
to all strata of society.
While only a few states in the country,
have a health care insurance system in
place for people below the poverty line,
nearly 50 percent of health care services are
provided through government hospitals at
regional and local levels. Although India has
matched various health indicators, a noticeable
feature is the decline in productivity in
India’s health sector.
Korea’s health care field, on the other
hand, is well-structured, with a national
health insurance system that has grown in a
phased manner and which has now arrived
at covering even the casual labor class. Patients
will have to pay on the basis of a ‘fee
for service’ policy and this is to remain uniform
across all employee classes.
This health care coverage is available for
both Western as well as traditional treatments,
and the entire system works predominantly
with private sector participation.
Both India and South Korea have a lot
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by North Korea with technical know-how
having come from China.
Both leaders were categorical that their
respective nations were committed to
maintaining regional security balances and
would not indulge in irresponsible behavior,
despite adequate provocations from
neighbors.
Yet President Lee also highlighted Korea’s
desire to increase “the degree of cooperation
with India in the military and
defense industry.” New trade opportunities
are hereby opening up for the “manufacture
of hardware, including naval ships and
aircraft.”
The Prime Minister has also extended
India’s space technology expertise to Korea
and proposed that “India would offer
to launch Korean satellites on Indian space
launch vehicles.”
The countries were emphatic that the
increased intensity of their relationship
would not affect their individual relations
with other countries, viz-a-viz China. Speaking
for the government, Sanjay Singh was
quick to ascertain that, “Our relations with
every country stand on their own merit and
are not predicated on relations with any
other country.” This statement was made to
assuage continued media concerns that the
closeness between India and South Korea
would actually worry or provoke China.
Thus a new phase of the defense industry
and trade between India and South Korea
has been entered. Currently, both countries
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of scope for cooperation within the field of
health care. While India’s costs for delivery
of world-class medical treatment in sophisticated
infrastructure continues to remain
competitive, Korea’s expensive health care
treatment could offer opportunities for
price revisions.
Despite a sophisticated health care system
in place, Korea is ranked low amongst
OECD countries in the delivery of health
care systems. Thus Korea and India, with increased
cooperation in the medical as well
as health care systems, have a golden opportunity
to create a more egalitarian delivery
of medical care across the stratified society
of their respective countries. A-P
are keen that Korea’s military equipment
and hardware technology be adopted for Indian
defense. India has already increased its
budget allocation for the present financial
year 2012-13 to US$41 billion, an increase of
17 percent growth over the previous year’s
budget.
India’s demand for military products provides
a lucrative market. Several overseas
companies supply nearly 70 percent of the
imports the country needs. It is the secondranked
importer of arms after China.
South Korea’s evolved arms industry is
surely well positioned to meet India’s defense
equipment and arms needs. It is already
able to meet nearly 70 percent of its
own needs and has become an established
weapons systems supplier.
Seoul, in fact, has set a target of selling,
“three billion dollars worth of arms in order
to become one of the world’s top ten
arms exporters by 2012.” The K-11 airburst
assault rifle, as well as the K-21, which is
the latest generation of infantry vehicle, is
superior to the American-made M2 Bradley
infantry fighting vehicle.
South Korea also has a sophisticated Aegis
combat system, which “uses powerful
computers and radars to track and guide
weapons to destroy enemy targets.”
Furthermore, the road ahead for a fruitful
defense trade association between Korea
and India has already been well-established
by the ‘minesweeper contract’ (with just
one of these ships costing US$670 million),
placed with ‘Kanganam Corporation’, a
South Korean firm. A-P
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INDIA-KOREA
Glorious Past Bright Future
Continued from Page 29
or ASEAN. In fact, the first-ever India-ASE-
AN Business Summit was held in 2002, in
New Delhi.
While analysing and commenting extensively
on the emergence of India’s
Eastern Policies, Walter C. Ladwig III
(Ref.1) has said that, “While India may
not traditionally be considered to be a significant
actor in the Asia-Pacific region,
over the past 18 years, New Delhi has undertaken
a concerted effort to direct its
foreign, economic, and military policies
eastward. What began as economic cooperation
with the nations of Southeast Asia
has expanded into full-spectrum engagement
with the major powers of East Asia.”
India has also built extensive multilateral
organizations that support the
Mekong-Ganga Co-operation, BIMSTEC as
well as SAARC.
Role of Asian Partners in
Including India in
Asia-Pacific Region
Regional players have also supported
and initiated India’s role in various associations
of the region. When China’s
domination in ASEAN+3 became uncontrollable,
several countries such as Japan
brought India into the equation to create
a ASEAN+6 process. Singapore and Indonesia
were also very keen on India playing
a role in the East Asia Summit.
America has also sought India’s active
participation in the region and has compelled
its membership in the Asia-Pacific
Economic Co-operation.
PM Speaks on South
Korean Ties
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh, during his recent visit to Korea to
attend the Nuclear Security Summit in
the last week of March, interacted with
the media and said that, “Investment
from Korea is a priority for India. We will
take pro-active steps to address investor
grievances and improve the business climate
in the country. Many states of our
union have been actively encouraging
foreign investment and we will support
these efforts. I urge Korean industry to
have faith in India.”
His last statement was in the context
of the failure of Korean-funded projects
such as the POSCO steel Project, where
land acquistion from tribals of the region
has led to continued start-up delays.
Seeking to reassure South Korean investors
in India as well as the CEOs gathered
at the event, and in an effort to further
ties with South Korea, the Prime Minister
further commented that, “I recognize
that sometimes our processes can be slow
but there are effective mechanisms for
resolution of problems and differences
and a strong rule of law. The government
is keen to move forward with the POSCO
project and there is some progress in this
regard. I believe that India is a stable and
profitable long-term investment opportunity.”
Road forward for India’s East
Asian relations
Walter C. Ladwig III, commenting on
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