Korea Investment Corp. (KIC) CEO Jin Seung-ho, fifth from left, poses with participants at the grand opening ceremony of the KIC's office in Mumbai, India, Tuesday. Among the participants are, from left, Amit Mathur, GIC managing director in charge of India, Sanjiv Aggarwal, CEO of India's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, Deepak Dara, senior managing director of Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Sujeet Govindaraju, managing director of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Jin, Neeraj Kumar, joint director of the Indian Ministry of Finance, Kim Young-og, consul general of Korea in Mumbai and other executives of the KIC.

Korea Investment Corp. (KIC) opened an office in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, which is the sovereign wealth fund's first office established in an emerging market. It is the KIC's fifth overseas office, following ones in New York, London, Singapore and San Francisco.

"We selected Mumbai as our first overseas post in emerging markets as we highly rate the potential of the Indian economy," KIC CEO Jin Seung-ho said at the opening ceremony of the office at the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai.

"The Mumbai office will serve as a platform for entering the dynamic Indian economy," he said. "We feel a great sense of responsibility as Korea's first public investment institution to enter India," he added.

"We will actively explore promising investment opportunities in this rapidly growing region."

At the opening ceremony were government officials from both Korea and India as well as representatives from global investors such as Blackstone, KKR and Brookfield. Representatives from sovereign wealth funds and pension funds of other countries already operating in Mumbai also attended the event.

"As the Indian economy grows, it is expected to offer new business opportunities in diverse areas. Korea also wishes to be part of this trend," Korea's consul general in Mumbai Kim Young-og said.

"The KIC's Mumbai office will contribute to the economic growth of both countries as well as elevating the special strategic partnership between the two countries to a higher level," he added.

Ajay Seth, India's secretary of economic affairs, expected the establishment of the Mumbai office to deepen cooperation between the KIC and India.

Amit Kumar, Ambassador of India to Korea, said in a congratulatory video message that the KIC will find abundant investment opportunities in India, expressing hope for the expansion of financial cooperation between the two countries.

The KIC said the Mumbai office will focus on securing promising alternative investment projects. The KIC is paying attention to venture capital and private equity investment opportunities stemming from India's rich IT ecosystem and expanding domestic market. It also plans to invest in tangible assets such as infrastructure and real estate to support India's economic development.