India and South Korea are strengthening one of Asia’s most active bilateral trade relationships. As a result, trade finance activity between the two countries is accelerating – and the data signals a corridor with significant room to grow.
South Korea and India rank as the fourth and third largest economies in Asia respectively, after Japan and China. Beyond their economic scale, both countries share aligned strategic interests. Specifically, South Korea’s open market policies complement India’s “Look East” and “Act East” strategies, which aim to deepen India’s commercial relationships across the Asian region.
In 2018, Korean foreign direct investment into India crossed USD 1 billion for the first time. This milestone reflected years of growing bilateral engagement, fuelled by business summits and a series of trade and commerce agreements.
Mitigram has observed this momentum directly. According to Uon Kim, Sales Director for Asia at Mitigram: “Over the past few months we have seen significant growth in trade finance negotiations between Korea and other countries in the region.”
A report by Standard Chartered Bank identifies the Korea-India trade finance corridor as one of the most promising in Asia. Specifically, the report estimates that South Korea could increase high-potential exports to India by nearly USD 1.5 billion annually – approximately 8% growth. Goods exports account for the majority of this opportunity, at around USD 1.2 billion.
In particular, the top five export sectors are vehicles, vehicle parts and accessories, knitted fabrics, man-made filaments, and pharmaceutical products. Furthermore, services exports add a meaningful layer: according to OECD TiVA and UN Comtrade data, two-way trade in high-potential sectors reaches USD 27 billion when services are included.
For exporters and banks active in this corridor, growth at this scale brings both opportunity and operational complexity. Documentary compliance, payment risk management, and multi-bank coordination become critical as trade volumes rise.
Consequently, companies entering or expanding in the Korea-India corridor need clear visibility over their financing options, bank relationships, and risk exposure. Rather than managing these through fragmented channels, digital trade finance platforms give exporters the structure to act with confidence – whether they are negotiating Letters of Credit, requesting risk cover, or benchmarking pricing across banks.
To explore trade finance opportunities in Asia and other high-growth corridors, Mitigram’s Explore New Markets tool provides real-time trade volume data, HS code-level analysis, and required documentation by route – giving exporters the intelligence to move faster and with less risk.
Mitigram is the leading digital platform for global trade finance execution. In 2024 alone, the platform facilitated over $41 billion in transactions across 120+ markets – empowering corporations, commodity traders, and financial institutions to transact with confidence. Mitigram supports risk coverage on more than 1,000 issuing banks and has enabled over 10,000 completed trade flows – bringing speed, control, and transparency to an industry long held back by fragmentation and paper.
To learn how these solutions can benefit your organisation, contact the Mitigram team here.
