Speed up reforms: AIWA chief

By Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

NEW DELHI, JAN. 24. The Chairman of the $3 billion AIWA Company of Japan, Mr. Kenji Tamiya, today underlined the need for speeding up economic reforms to improve the investment climate in the country. This despite the fact that India is becoming one of the favourite markets for Japanese companies owing to its vast market and abundant technological talent.

In an interview here to The Hindu, Mr Tamiya said his company would try and focus on Internet-related technologies to meet the needs of consumers in the Indian market. AIWA, which is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation, has already extended its existing strategic alliance with Baron International for another four years, indicating its keen interest in retaining a significant presence in the Indian market.

Stating that the investment climate in the country has improved since the market was thrown open and the policies changed in the early 1990s, Mr. Tamiya said, ``the Indian market will get more attention in the future as one of the most growth- oriented markets in the world.'' He nevertheless, believes that India can do better by accelerating the process of reforms. ``Being a signatory to the WTO, India can accelerate the process of liberalisation. That would induce more investment at a much faster pace.''

On how his company sees India, Mr. Tamiya - who took over as CEO in 1997 after three-and-a-half decades with Sony Corporation - says ``40 million households in India are still using black-and- white television sets and for us they are promising customers since they would like to upgrade to colour sets.'' Likewise, he says, ``there is a very good opportunity for us to increase our TV sales because of the large untapped rural market.''

Lauding the way Baron International has managed to capture 50 per cent market share in Hi-fi CD systems and 10 per cent share in the colour TV market in the first year of its operations, Mr Tamiya hopes that this ``significant penetration'' would translate into better sales in the future. In this regard, he says, the marketing and finance strategy planned by Baron International to charge just one rupee as down payment is likely to bear fruit.

To enter the Indian market in a big way, Mr. Tamiya says his company is also looking at launching latest technology. ``We introduced the Pure Flat Television in the domestic market in Japan last year. The product has been very successful and now we are planning to expand its market by taking it outside Japan. India is one of the countries we have in mind.''

But, Mr. Tamiya says, he cannot give a time-frame for the launch since AIWA first has to look out for companies which can provide it with key components for marketing the product. Another technology demonstrator from AIWA, the Plasma Display Panel, is also likely to make an entry into India. ``But that would take time as it has not been commercially successful.''

What AIWA is concentrating on at the moment is the Internet. ``Internet will change the world. It would change communication, information and lifestyles - in short, people's behaviour. It would be a cultural revolution, that is why everybody, including AIWA, wish to have Internet-related products.''

Mentioning how AIWA is looking at various possibilities such as marketing Internet-ready colour televisions, set top boxes, digital video discs and cellphones, Mr. Tamiya says it is important to focus on what kind of Internet-related products would sell. As such, he says, ``we will just stick our neck around for the time being.''

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