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India needs Japanese investment: PM
By Neena Vyas
OSAKA, DEC. 8. It would be to the mutual interest of India and Japan if the ``mismatch between the depth of cultural and spiritual relations between India and Japan and the inadequacy of economic and business relations between the two countries could be removed''.
The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, made this forceful plea here today to a distinguished gathering of members of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and a delegation of Indian businessmen representing the CII and the FICCI. The Kansai region, of which Osaka is a part, represents the commercial hub of Japan.
He pointed out that India needed investment in the infrastructure, manufacturing and services sectors, and Japan had a huge economy and a significant underutilised capacity. India also offered a huge market where consumers were fast becoming quality and brand conscious.
Mr. Vajpayee mentioned Japan's growing interest in the emerging Information Technology sector in India and said even if there had been difficulties in the past, he was confident Japanese firms seeking to invest in India would not be disappointed, and their shareholders would be kept happy. He was referring to the successful track record of several India-Japan joint ventures.
Mr. Vajpayee's short and crisp address emphasised the new determination to establish a global partnership between the two countries, a decision which was first taken during the visit to New Delhi by the former Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Yoshiro Mori, in August 2000. Mr. Vajpayee will meet his Japanese counterpart, Mr. Junichiro Kuizumi, in Tokyo on December 10 to establish a partnership not only in the economic field but in the area of defence and security also.
Before the Prime Minister's address Mr. Arun Shourie, Minister for Disinvestment, admitted that India had been a ``decade late in opening up its economy, and there may still be several glitches''. The Indian Government was aware of the problems faced by Japanese business houses and very recently decided to set up a cell in the Finance Ministry to deal with ``company-specific problems faced by Japanese firms in India or those wanting to do business there''. It was, perhaps, a direct response to the recent criticism articulated by the Japanese Ambassador in India that Japanese business found it hard to deal with the Indian bureaucracy. In fact, Mr. Shourie referred directly to the harassing ``ways of the bureaucracy at the lower levels'', but was confident that would change.
Mr. Shourie talked about matching and marrying the skills of the Japanese in hardware with the growing and recognised Indian expertise in software. He said that in the defence-related fields of robotics, sensors and optics, a cooperation between the two countries would be fruitful.
Mr. Shourie also stressed India's strong commitment to continue economic reforms. That process would go on, irrespective of political changes. It was a ``puzzle'' that despite strong cultural ties and in spite of Japan's vast resources and India's huge potential, foreign direct investment from Japan had been so small. ``We want to find the answer to this puzzle.'' The Minister emphasised the resilience of the Indian economy. ``Neither the South-East Asian financial crisis, nor the Kargil war and the imposition of economic sanctions had put the economy down''. There had been a steady reorientation of the economy, a ``change in the balance of influence and power shifting from the Indian state to society''. The IT revolution had created new demands even in the villages where television had penetrated, and the ``market in India was no longer restricted to the middle classes''.
In Tokyo, another major business session will take place, and in Kobe today there was an interaction between the Indian and Japanese chambers of commerce.
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