Japanese businesses looking to enhance partnership with India, says former PM Yoshihide Suga

Former Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga.

Former Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga has said that there is a complete agreement between the private and public sectors in Japan regarding enhancing involvement and partnership with India.

“After the meeting with PM Modi we would clearly like to strengthen our relations with India and we have established an objective of investing 5 trillion yen in India in the next 5 years,” Suga said at an event organised by industry body FICCI on July 6.

Suga is set to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day to discuss bilateral economic cooperation, seeking to spur greater inroads in the fast-growing economy by Japanese companies.

Exploring opportunities

Suga, who is Chairman of the Japan-India Association, is travelling with 101 business leaders from 54 companies in finance, airlines, construction, energy and information technology.

"I will convey to PM Modi, the request we have received from the business leaders who are accompanying us this time and are keen to improve the environment for Japanese companies to do business in India," Yoshihide said.

Innovation and technology hold the key to the future collaboration of Japan & India, R Dinesh, President, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), said addressing the gathering on July 6.

“Joint R&D initiatives can unleash immense potential and drive both our economies to new heights,” he added.

Focus on sectors including infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, digital and clean energy will be crucial for shaping the future together and for meeting investment targets, he said.

India-Japan ties

In recent years, the economic relations between Japan and India have steadily expanded and deepened. The volume of trade between the two countries has increased. India was the 18th largest trading partner for Japan while Japan was the 13th largest trading partner for India in 2021. Also, direct investment from Japan to India has increased, with the country being the 5th largest investor for India in FY2021, as per a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

Japan’s bilateral trade with India totalled $17.63 billion in FY 2018-19. Exports from Japan to India during this period were $12.77 billion and imports were $ 4.86 billion. The bilateral trade between India and Japan for FY2019-20 (April–December) totalled $11.87 billion. India’s exports from Japan amounted to $3.94 billion while India’s imports from Japan amounted to $7.93 billion, the MEA statement added.

India’s primary exports to Japan include petroleum products, chemicals, elements, compounds, non-metallic mineral ware, fish & fish preparations, metalliferous ores & scrap, clothing & accessories, iron & steel products, textile yarn, fabrics and machinery.

India’s primary imports from Japan are machinery, electrical machinery, iron and steel products, plastic materials, non-ferrous metals, parts of motor vehicles, organic chemicals and metal products.