South Korea and India launched a forum of businessmen in Seoul on Tuesday as part of their efforts to forge a closer partnership among entrepreneurs from both countries.
  

The kick-off ceremony of the South Korea-India CEO Forum took place in downtown Seoul, with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hundreds of businessmen attending.
  

The panel is co-chaired by Park Yong-man, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Kumar Birla, chairman of major Indian conglomerate Aditya Birla Group.
  

"South Korea and India will be able to emerge as leaders in the age of Asia should the continent's No. 3 and No. 4 economies join hands as firm partners," said Chairman Park during his welcoming speech.
  

"If we combine India's competence in science and software technologies with that of South Korea's manufacturing sector, based on both our creative talent, the two could create a new economic value," the KCCI chief said.
  

The CEO forum was launched about a year after President Park made a state visit to India to promote economic ties with the world's largest democracy.
  

Bilateral trade between South Korea and India reached $18.1 billion last year.      
  

The two nations signed a free trade pact called the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in 2010, and Seoul has been calling for an upgrade of the CEPA in a push to further increase the presence of South Korean firms in the massive market of 1.2 billion people. (Yonhap)