The Minister of Commerce and Industry of India, H.E. Anand Sharma, and the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, H.E. Toshimitsu Motegi reaffirmed their expectation to advance cooperation between the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan in the framework of India’s “National Manufacturing Policy” for enhancing bilateral investment and trade which would drive growth of both countries. They further expressed their expectation that both countries would continue to work closely for achieving an enabling predictability and transparency in terms of business environment as reflected in the joint statement on the occasion of the Japan-India summit meeting on May 29, 2013.
l Following up on the Joint Statement of 17th May, 2013, for supporting, inter alia, planned initiatives and projects designed to strengthen business partnerships, the Ministers reiterated the importance of investment promotion for the mutually beneficial development of both countries and agreed to deepen engagement with regard to measures for investment promotion and improvement in business environment in partnership with State Governments and enhancement of cooperation between two countries in the area of investment promotion.
l Both sides welcomed the establishment of frameworks which will contribute to investment promotion such as the “Manufacturing Industry Promotion Board (MIPB)” chaired by Minister Sharma. The two Ministers welcomed the progress made in electronics sector, after the Ministerial level interaction in February, 2013. A Japan Help Desk has been set-up in the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) with the mandate to facilitate Japanese companies in investing in electronics sector in India and steps have been taken to form a Joint Working Group (JWG) for greater cooperation in the IT and Electronics sector. Both sides have noted the idea to establish a Japanese Electronics Manufacturing Township with Japanese assistance in India with world class infrastructure and agreed to take this up in the forthcoming JWG.
l Both sides shared the view that industrial infrastructure is critically important for the expansion of foreign direct investments to India from Japanese companies and welcomed the substantial progress made in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC）project , conceived as a symbol of Indo-Japan strategic partnership during the meeting of the Prime Minister of Japan, H.E. Mr. Shinzo Abe, and the Prime Minister of India, H.E. Dr. Manmohan Singh on the occasion of the visit of the Prime Minister of India to Tokyo in December, 2006. Both sides also welcomed the progress made in the Chennnai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC）project initiated in 2011 with substantial reflection of the concepts arising out of cooperation between both countries in the DMIC project.
l Referring to the report “Challenges for India-Japan Investment Promotion Towards Expanding Exports through Investment“ by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), both sides also affirmed the importance of an all inclusive initiative to further facilitate investments besides the on-going intitiatives in DMIC and CBIC projects.
l Both sides committed to the formulation of an Action Plan to promote two-way investments between India and Japan based on three pillars ; (1)India-Japan business partnership (2) Cooperation with Central and State Governments on Investment promotion and Facilitation and (3) Improvement in business environment.
l Both sides also committed to review the progress of the Action Plan annually.
Anand Sharma
Minister of Commerce and Industry,
India
Toshimitsu Motegi
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry,
Japan