Japanese companies in India more focused on domestic markets than global: Amb Satoshi Suzuki

Sanjeev K Ahuja On Jul 18, 2021

Time to change:

NEW DELHI: The Japanese companies operating in India are exporting merely 18 percent of their produce to global markets, and the rest is sold in the domestic markets.

In deep contrast, the export sales to total sales ratio of the Japanese companies operating in other parts of Asia is about 50%, especially those in ASEAN nations. In China, the Japanese companies have registered exports to sales ratio at 33%, almost double that of India.

Satoshi Suzuki, Ambassador of Japan to India disclosed this while addressing a session organised by CII in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs of India.

“The export sales ratio of Japanese companies in many ASEAN countries is in the upper 40% to 50% zone, meaning that they export roughly half of what they produce in these countries. Even Japanese companies in China have a 33% export sales ratio. On the other hand, in India, the export sales ratio of Japanese companies remains at a low of 18% – almost half of that in China,” said the Ambassador.

While indicating that India grossly lacks on the much required connect with the rest of the Indo-pacific region, the Ambassador said this showed how companies operating in India were still very much focused on the domestic market and not so much on exports.

India has a total of 1455 Japanese companies operating on its soil with Honda, Toyota, Suzuki, to mention a few.

“When we consider the fact that export-oriented companies have a tendency to show better profit forecasts, I believe that there is still much room to be gained if India connects itself deeper and wider into the greater Indo-Pacific region.”

Ambassador Satoshi Suzuki said that this gain was not limited to the traditional trade of goods.

“We all know that India is home to many start-ups. Since the beginning of 2021 alone, ten “unicorn” companies were born from India despite the severity of the pandemic we experienced here. Rather, the pandemic has accelerated the rate of digital transformation, and these companies have managed to meet the expectations of the people using digital technology.”

The Ambassador said that Indo-Pacific could offer a broader customer base to these companies and indeed.

He said, “We are witnessing Indian start-ups expanding their businesses in Asia. India’s excellent human resources in the area of IT, and Japan’s strengths in technology, quality, and the vast supply chains it has in Asia 4 could be combined to bring benefits to all peoples of the region to further accelerate the digital transformation in Asia and beyond.”