Briefing Session on WAVES 2025
[1130 hrs; Wednesday; March 19, 2025; SVCC]
Remarks by Ambassador
[Words: 763]
A very warm Good Morning to all of you,
Annyeong – Hashmnika, Namaste
I warmly welcome all of you at the Embassy. It is very good to see such robust participation from the Korean companies from the media and entertainment sector as well as from the media.
As you all know, India is hosting the inaugural edition of the World Audio - Visual & Entertainment Summit [WAVES] 2025 from 1 – 4 May 2025 at the Jio World Convention Centre, Mumbai.
Allow me to preface my remarks with a very brief overview of bilateral relations. India and the Republic of Korea pursue a Special Strategic Partnership. This year marks its 10th anniversary. We have achieved significant progress in multiple fields.
There are much more regular bilateral consultations on political, strategic and defence matters including at the high-political level. There are ministerial-level dialogues between the foreign, finance and S&T ministries, respectively.
The economic and commercial engagement between our two countries have also significantly increased. The two-way investments are close to USD 15 billion with USD 5 billion invested by Indian companies in Korea. There is immense potential to deepen our engagement in multiple areas, including manufacturing, green energy, infrastructure, logistics, etc.
We are seeing increased exchanges between universities, and think tanks, in media and cultural domains, etc. Tourism flow are picking up.
The reason I wanted to share this background is that strengthening people-to-people connectivity is a key strategic priority for us, and it is indeed necessary to ensure long-term resilience and sustainability of our partnership.
Seen in this backdrop, the inaugural edition of the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit or WAVES 2025 assumes critical salience. In some ways, it is a forum to convey and share our stories, promote better understanding of our respective countries - India in Korea and of Korea in India respectively, and foster deeper friendship among our people.
The WAVES 2025 brings together key stakeholders in the Media and Entertainment [M&E] industry. WAVES represents the coming together of cinema, of the digital world, of the content revolution, of the IT industry, and of the global capability centres in India.
India’s M&E sector is undergoing major transformation underpinned by a robust growth in digital advertising, OTT platforms and online gaming. The sector is poised to grow at a rate of 8.3% annually to reach around USD 45 billion by 2028. AVGC-XR sector is emerging as a new driver for growth in the M&E industry.
The current levels of creativity and innovation visible in India today also reflects the democratisation of technology which has widened the opportunities for the current generation. It has, for example, widened the space for regional languages tremendously, deepening the diversity of both content and format.
The government is also establishing an Indian Institute for Immersive Creators (IIIC) in Mumbai to focus on creating a wider skilled talent pool for animation, visual effects, gaming, comics and extended reality. We look forward to Korean partnership in this initiative.
As you all know, the Indian film industry is quite large producing hundreds of films every year. Many Indian films have fared well abroad including in Korea. India is also emerging as an attractive destination for Audio-Visual coproduction for foreign companies. On an average, 35-40 foreign film projects are granted permission for shooting and production in India.
This Summit aims to showcase India’s thriving M&E sector, with a focus on fostering innovation, collaboration, and policy discussions. The event would be structured along 4 verticals: (a) Digital Media (Social Media Platforms, OTT, Online Creators, App Economy); (b) Traditional Media (News Media, TV& Radio); (c) AVGC-XR (Generative AI, Animation & VFX, Gaming & esports, AR/VR/XR, Comics); and (d) Films & Documentaries.
The Republic of Korea boasts of a very successful and vibrant audio-visual and entertainment sector. It has also successfully leveraged its strength for soft power projection including through K-Pop, K-drama and films. The Korean cultural content is, not surprisingly, gaining popularity in India.
In this backdrop, I believe that Korean participation at WAVES 2025 will be a useful opportunity. India would not only offer avenues for creative collaboration, leveraging skilled human resources but equally for business expansion. You will find several aspects of WAVES 2025 of particular interest; which Director of the Cultural Centre will cover in her detailed presentation.
I hope that there would be significant Korean presence at this inaugural summit in Mumbai. We have already received participation confirmation from some Korean companies and hope others will likewise follow. We look forward to working closely with you to deepen India-RoK collaboration in media and entertainment sector.
Thank you - Khamsa-hamnida
***
* The well-known Indian movie “Drishyam” is being remade into Korean as a project between Anthology Studios (Korea) and Paramount Pictures (India);
* The Korean animation series “Snoonz” by Liri Bridge Co. is being reproduced for Indian audiences in collaboration with Artfulness Studies (India)’
* Alimoli Studio (Korea) and Hornbill Studios (India) are working on an animation series “Astrostation”.
