Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today began his three-day tour of the Republic of Korea, urging its industrialists to make the state their second home and invest big in it.

The Chief Minister held meetings with a host of Korean industrialists and told them that AP would like to make rapid strides, inspired by South Korea’s success in manufacturing and technology.

Explaining what all his government had been doing to propel growth and prosperity in the sunrise state in the aftermath of bifurcation, Naidu made a strong pitch for Korean investments in different sectors like automobiles, power, textiles, food processing, electronics, etc, an official release issued here said.

“India s Look East Policy will bear fruit only from our state,” Naidu told the Koreans.

He also invited them to attend the Partnership Summit to be held in Visakhapatnam in February, it added.

Showcasing Kia Motors — which is now setting up its car manufacturing plant in Anantapuramu district of AP — as a mascot, the Chief Minister asked the South Korean business houses to explore possibilities of investing in AP as both of them shared many similarities like population and (geographical) size, said the release.

A group of 37 South Korean industries already signed Letters of Intent to invest a sum of Rs 3,000 crore in the state, he said.

Many ancillary units of Kia Motors confirmed a total investment of Rs 4,995 crore and provision of employment to 7,171 persons, the Chief Minister added.

A Korean township would soon be developed in the state, he said.

Naidu requested Hwang Chul-joo, CEO of Jusung Engineering that has 3.5 GW of solar power plants in different states of India, to set up a research and development facility in AP.

Jusung is currently developing the next-generation OLED bulbs and also has plans to set up a further one GW of solar power generating plants in India.

The Chief Minister, who is accompanied by Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, Industries Minister N Amarnath Reddy and senior officials, visited the automobile manufacturing plant of Kia Motors.