Envoy notes emerging opportunities in India for Japanese companies
India is high on the radar screen of Japanese top business leaders as the Indian market’s potential creates a huge gravitational pull, Japanese Ambassador Hiroshi Suzuki says.
“There is a need to increase the number of Japanese companies investing in India as there are emerging opportunities in various sectors,” he told the ’46th Joint Meeting of the India-Japan Business Cooperation Meeting (IJBCC)’, organized by FICCI jointly with JIBCC on 9 Feb 2023.
“We should work towards creating an environment where we can do business with confidence with each other,” added Tatsuo Yasunaga, Chairman, Japan-India Business Cooperation Committee (JIBCC).
“Japanese companies are focusing on decarbonized society in India,” said Yasunaga, also Representative Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mitsui & Co.
Anurag Jain, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), also called on more Japanese companies to invest in India.
“India is a very vibrant democracy and the structural and governance reforms brought in by the government are transformational. This has further improved the Ease of Doing Business,” he elaborated.
Jain stressed that the kind of opportunities which exist in India today were never there.
“The next 3 decades are going to be India’s growth story and if you (industry wants) your own growth, come and be part of India’s growth story,” he asserted.
Highlighting the merits of India’s public digital infrastructure, Jain said, “Today we see over 7 billion online real-time transactions in India which is more than China and the US as well as whole of Europe. India follows the open network system.”
Jain further stated that with the launch of the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), the entry barriers for a new player will be reduced significantly.
“The way UPI transformed the payment space in the world, the same way e-commerce space will be transformed by the ONDC which will be launched in another year or two,” he informed delegates at the meeting.
“Japanese entities should consider expanding their investment by tapping in the emerging sectors like Renewable Energy, FinTech, and digital technology, as a step further towards gaining economic prosperity,” said Onkar S Kanwar, Chairman, IJBCC and Chairman, Apollo Tyres Limited.
India with the support of Japan has an opportunity to become the next hub of global manufacturing value chains, he believes.
“While economic relations between India and Japan have strengthened in recent years, the two strategic partners need to capitalize on their foundational partnership and approach towards a more sustainable economic integration,” he said.
The economic relations between India and Japan have strengthened in recent years and both nations need to capitalize a foundational partnership and approach towards a more sustainable economic integration, added Shardul S Shroff, Executive Chairman, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. fiinews.com
