Pvt, Public Sector in Japan completely agree on enhancing involvement and partnership with India: Yoshihide Suga, Ex Japan PM

NEW DELHI: Yoshihide Suga, former Prime Minister of Japan and Chairman of the Japan-India Association has said, “There is complete agreement between the Private and Public Sector in Japan regarding enhancing involvement and partnership with India”. Suga who is currently travelling to India with a strong 100-member delegation of Ganesha Group of Parliamentarians, and  businessmen led by Keidanren, CII’s MoU partner in Japan, was speaking at the India Japan Business Forum on “India-Japan@75: Realizing the ¥ 5 trillion Partnership” organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) jointly with Keidanren on Thursday.

Suga said, “I am very pleased to visit India with the Japanese delegation. While being here I witnessed India’s vibrancy. I can feel the steam and energy of the Indian economy”. “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 in India”, Suga added.

Tsugio MITSUOKA, Vice Chair, the Board of Councilors, Keidanren and Chairman of the Board IHI Corporation, in his remarks said “Japan is holding the G7 presidency and India is holding G20 presidency this year. The two countries should work together for free trade, investment, & decarbonization and deepen their partnership and cooperation”.

R Dinesh, President, Confederation of Indian Industry while addressing the Forum said that the relationship between the two countries was exemplary, based on shared values, mutual respect and a vision for a prosperous future, not just for the two countries but for the world as a whole. “Innovation and technology hold the key to the future collaboration of Japan & India. Joint R&D initiatives can unleash immense potential and drive both our economies to new heights”, he added.

Ajay S Shriram, Chairman & Senior Managing Director, DCM Shriram Ltd. in his remarks said that the decades long partnership between India and Japan has had many landmark outcomes that are reflected in India’s development journey. He further said “both Japan & India being stable and resilient economies must accelerate economic cooperation for the wider regional growth”. “Cooperation in digital transformation across areas such as artificial intelligence and big data analytics among others can help us achieve our sustainability goals”, he added. He further mentioned that we need to consider new collaborations in sustainable infrastructure, renewable energy and green hydrogen and co-development of green products.

Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry in his remarks mentioned “global supply chains are diversifying to ensure resilience. Japan, as a key global investor and player in supply chains, is central to reshaping the future of global trade and India plays an important part in this”. Banerjee further added “Japan has been supporting India’s economic transformation through various initiatives and has been a key partner in our efforts to enhance our connectivity & cooperation with our neighbours & beyond, especially in the Indo-Pacific region”.

This was then followed by two Sessions on “Enhancing trade and investment: Roadmap to Achieve Japan’s 5 trillion Yen Investment plan” and “Partnering to achieve sustainability through digital transformations”. Various senior industry members from both India and Japan participated in the discussions in these Sessions.