Commemorative symposium upon visit of Indian PM Modi to Japan - Hope for strengthening collaboration in various fields between India and Japan -

October 2018

On October 29, JETRO jointly held a commemorative symposium upon the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Japan with Nikkei in Tokyo.

In his opening remarks, JETRO Chairman and CEO Hiruyuki Ishige highlighted startups and business expansion in third countries, primarily in Africa, as fields where India and Japan are bolstering business collaboration. Regarding the former, he made clear JETRO’s dedication to conducting matching with Indian startups, which are said to number over 6,000, introducing the establishment of the "Japan-India Startup Hub" within JETRO Bengaluru this May, a center which will play an interface role in facilitating collaboration between Indian and Japanese startups as well as two-way investment between the two countries.

Prime Minister Modi took the podium next, and stressing that his “number one priority is ‘ease of doing business,’” he explained that India has dramatically risen in rank from 142nd in 2014 to 100th in 2018 in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business ranking. In addition, illustrating that rapid growth of purchasing power of the middle class, urban citizens and the young has been a catalyst for creating business opportunities in a wide range of fields, he made a passionate call to Japanese SMEs for investment in his country. Regarding the IT industry, boasting that India is among the best in the world in the fields of AI, IoT, 3D printing and robotics, he delivered a message with high hopes for Japanese companies to enter India, saying "If the software of India and hardware of Japan were combined, a miracle would be born."

Following Prime Minister Modi's speech, a presentation was delivered by Chairman Masami Iijima of Mitsui & Co.Ltd. Elaborating on the efforts and achievements that Prime Minister Modi has made for the Indian economy over the last four years, he declared that as the world globalizes attention should be paid to not only bilateral but also multilateral economic partnership and regional connections. He also stressed the importance of maintaining and strengthening a free and open international economic order through cooperation between India and Japan.

During the business session, presentations were made by Indian and Japanese government officials and business players on their respective policies and latest endeavors under three themes. During the "Make In India" session, Representative Director and Chairman Osamu Suzuki of Suzuki Motor Corporation demonstrated an ongoing commitment to the "Make In India" policy by directing his company to handle the challenges of the next-generation automotive industry such as environmental issues and ending dependency on oil. In the "Digital Partnership" panel session, speakers deliberated on the importance of the Japan-India Startup Hub and significance of cooperation between the two countries in fields such as IoT and AI. In the "Africa Business Development through Japan-India Partnership" session, representatives from Japanese companies in India introduced case studies of business development in Africa, sharing both concerns and hopes. As these themes are also part of a common vision between both prime ministers, and incorporated in the Japan-India joint statement signed on that evening, the symposium proved an opportunity to impress upon participants how both governments are concretely working together to advance their economic policies.

Before the symposium, 57 cases of investment to India by Japanese companies that were approved as joint support projects by JETRO and Invest India (an investment promotion organization under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India) were introduced to Prime Minister Modi, who was present with representatives of those companies. Their total investment amount reached 320 billion yen, with 30,000 jobs expected to be created. Concurrently, two memorandums of understanding concluded between Japanese companies active in the food processing and food-related machinery field and the Ministry of Food Processing Industries of India, as well as 15 Indian companies planning to expand business in Japan were also introduced. Prime Minister Modi expressed welcome for this expansion in two-way investment between India and Japan.