Narendra Modi promises no red tape to Japanese businesses
Prime Minister tells Japanese investors that India's democracy guarantees safety, security and justice
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday urged Japanese businesses to invest in India, promising them a red carpet welcome in Asia’s third largest economy that afforded the investors a big business opportunity.
In his speech to Japanese businessmen and investors at a meeting organized by the Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro) and Nikkei in Tokyo, Modi described India as a place with three opportunities—democracy, demography and demand.
India’s democracy guarantees “safety, security and justice", the prime minister said, while its young demography with 65% of the 1.2 billion population below 35 years of age made India among the youngest countries in the world.
Given that electronics was one of the largest commodities imported by India after petroleum products, India is a country of huge demand and opportunity for Japanese businesses, said Modi.
Inviting Japanese businesses to invest in Indian manufacturing—citing India’s low-cost manufacturing advantage—the prime minister said India was a “god-gifted location" for reaching out to global markets.
“In India, we now have such a government that is working for development and wants to promote manufacturing," said Modi in a speech broadcast live by Doordarshan.
Modi’s comments come a day after he told Nippon Keidanren, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Japan-India Business Cooperation Committee that he would be setting up a team of officials attached to his office to fast-track big-ticket Japanese investment into India.
After talks with the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on Monday, the two leaders announced the Japan-India Investment Promotion Partnership under which the countries “decided to set a target of doubling Japan’s foreign direct investment (FDI) and number of Japanese companies in India within five years as an objective to be jointly achieved", the joint Tokyo Declaration said.
About 1,000 Japanese companies are operating in India in about nearly 70 infrastructure projects, according to PHD Chamber of Commerce. The Delhi-based lobby group’s president Sharad Jaipuria said India expects the number of Japanese companies in India to go up to over 1,500 in next five years.
Modi, who was elected in the April-May Lok Sabha elections on a pro-development and jobs plank, said he understood the importance attached to the “ease of doing business", adding that in the 100 days he had been in office, his administration had taken a number of steps to improve business and investor confidence in India.
“I have come to assure you that there is no red tape but red carpet in India. We have eased off lot of regulations," Modi said, pointing out that India’s economic growth was also reviving, touching 5.7% of the GDP in April-June quarter, the highest in more than two years.Referring to India’s skills in information technology (IT) software and Japanese prowess in hardware, Modi said, “Without Japan, India is incomplete and without India, Japan is incomplete." The coming together of the two would create a miracle, he said.
Giving some more examples of the huge potential for business in India, Modi said there were 50 cities in India waiting for the government to sanction metro train projects, which represented a huge opportunity for Japanese business.
The Delhi metro rail service was financed in large part by a loan from Japan.
In another speech in Tokyo, this time addressed to university students, Modi sought to allay concerns about India being a non-signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT), saying India was the land of the Buddha and that non-violence was ingrained in the “DNA of Indian society".
During an interaction with the students, Modi said India had refused to sign the NPT because of its discriminatory nature. “In international affairs, there are some processes. But above them is the commitment of the society," he said, underlining the need for rising “above the treaties".
India is seeking to conclude a civil nuclear cooperation pact with Japan that will allow India to build nuclear power plants in the country.
Negotiations for the civil nuclear pact started in 2010 with both sides yet to clinch a deal. Japan manufactures key components needed to set up a nuclear power plants, including the domes of power plants and some key safety equipment.
Inking a pact with Japan critical for India to operationalize civil nuclear power pacts already concluded with other countries.
PTI contributed to this story.
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