Japan to help Make in India initiative

MUMBAI, INDIA: In what can be termed as a landmark initiative between two nations, the governments of India and Japan have signed an agreement that signals doubling of Japanese investment into Indian firms in the next five years.

The signatories were Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Japan’s minister for economy, trade and industry, Yoichi Miyazawa.

While the investments will boost two-way trade, Sitharaman asserted that the agenda was in line with PM's Make in India plan that will further investments from Japan into the country's manufacturing sector.

The investments cover the following five broad areas:

Development of select townships in India

Promotion of investment and infrastructure development

Development and cooperation in information technology

Enhancing cooperation in strategic sectors

Asia-Pacific economic integration

Miyazawa said in a prepared statement, "The signing of the action plan is seen as a step further in improving the trade relationship between India and Japan as a follow-up of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Japan last year."

Japan is the fourth largest foreign direct investment (FDI) contributor to India, with major interests in pharmaceuticals, automobiles, and services sectors accounting for 7.46 per cent of total FDI equity inflows into India. During April 2000-November 2014, FDI from Japan into India stood at $17.55 billion.

Under the Tokyo Declaration for Japan-India Special Strategic and Global Partnership, Modi and Abe have set a target of doubling Japanese FDI and the number of Japanese firms in India by 2019.