Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met SoftBank's Masayoshi Son and Suzuki Motor's Osamu Suzuki, other Japanese business leaders to discuss investment opportunities in India in sectors ranging from textile to automobiles. During the meeting, lauding his efforts, Son said, India is becoming the number three in the world for new startups and unicorns, while Osamu Suzuki said, the reforms of Prime Minister Modi are indescribable.
The prime minister arrived in Japan on Monday to attend a summit of the Quad leaders at the invitation of his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida. Alongside the summit, during a separate bilateral meeting, PM Modi met with prominent business leaders in Japan.
PM Modi first met electronic giant NEC Corporation's Chairman Nobuhiro Endo, followed by a meeting with Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo's CEO Tadashi Yanai. This was followed by meetings with Masayoshi Son and Osamu Suzuki to discuss investment opportunities.
Regarding the meeting with Endo, the statement from PM's office said, "They discussed various reforms being undertaken to enable ease of doing business in India, including in industrial development, taxation and labour. They also discussed opportunities in India in new and emerging technologies,"
On his part, Endo said, that Prime Minister Modi has a strong intention to build and enhance capabilities in India, "We are very happy to contribute to those areas."
Modi also appreciated NEC's role in India's telecommunication sector, especially in undertaking Chennai-Andaman and Nicobar Islands (CANI) and Kochi-Lakshadweep Islands (KLI) optical fibre cable projects.
With Yanai, chairman, president, CEO of Fast Retailing Co Ltd, the parent company of Uniqlo, the PM discussed the rapidly growing textile and apparel market of India and investment opportunities under the PLI scheme for textile projects
"They also discussed various reforms being undertaken to enable ease of doing business for foreign investors in India including in the areas of industrial development, infrastructure, taxation and labour," it added.
The Prime Minister also invited Uniqlo's enhanced participation in India's journey to becoming a manufacturing hub for textiles, particularly the use of technologies in textile manufacturing, besides asking the Japanese apparel major to take part in the 'PM-Mitra' scheme aimed at further strengthening the textiles sector.
Modi appreciated Softbank Corporation's role in India's startup sector during his meeting with Son, the founder and CEO of the Japanese investment major. "They discussed Softbank's future participation in India in key areas such as technology, energy and finance," the official statement said.
Son said India is "growing very quickly with new startups coming everyday and unicorns coming very quickly", becoming the number three in the world for new startups and unicorns.
"India's future is bright. Prime Minister Modi is committed to the success of India, for supporting startups, for creating more unicorns and making it the centre of high technology in the world," he added.
During his meeting with Suzuki, the Prime Minister recalled the veteran Japanese industry leader's association with and contribution to India and appreciated the transformational role of Suzuki Motor Corp in the automotive industry of the country.
"They discussed further investment opportunities in India, including setting up of production facilities for electric vehicles and batteries as well as recycling centres, for realizing the goal of sustainable growth," the official statement said.
The meeting also discussed strategies for building the local innovation system in India, including skill development through Japan-India Institutes of Manufacturing (JIM) and Japanese Endowed Courses (JEC), it added.
"Reforms of Prime Minister Modi are indescribable, in the sense that he is bringing reforms which are changing the whole of India into a model landscape," Suzuki said
(With inputs from agencies)
Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.