Showing an encouraging trend, Korea's trade with India grew by as much as 53 per cent during the first ten months of the current year.

"This is a dramatic development in our trade relations where we have seen average annual growth of around seven per cent since 2000," said Yoon Young-kwan, visiting Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, at a meeting organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Monday.

This jump in trade would push India from being among the top 25 trading partners for Korea last year to among the top 10 at the end of the current year, he said.

The minister said in terms of real purchasing power, India is the world's fourth largest economic powerhouse after the US, China and Japan.

In addition, India is poised to occupy the third position in terms of national production in the next decade or two, he said.

He pointed to petrochemicals, information technology, automobiles, biotech, electronics to be future core areas for bilateral trade relations.

The records of the past 12 years put Korea in the fifth place among the biggest sources of foreign investment in India, he said.