Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Monday pitched for intensifying bilateral trade with India, particularly in infrastructure and technology, during his meetings with the doyens of Indian business and industry.
“The Prime Minister called for concrete steps to enhance and strengthen the bilateral trade between both nations. Besides, he also asked for a closer cooperation in the areas of nuclear energy, R&D and infrastructure projects,” Shipping Corporation of India Chairman and Managing Director S. Hajara, part of a CII-delegation meeting the visiting dignitary told PTI.
In 2008-09, the Indo-Japan bilateral trade stood at around $12 billion and is expected to grow further by next year.
Noting that Japanese investment in India was still much lower than that in China, Mr. Hatoyama said there was vast scope for infusing larger resources into sectors of potential growth, primarily infrastructure.
The premier held separate meetings with Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata, and also met a CII delegation and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. The closed-door meeting between Mr. Hatoyama and Mr. Tata came in the backdrop of healthy market response to the recently-launched joint venture between Tata Teleservices and Japanese telecom giant NTT DOCOMO.
PTI reports from Ahmedabad:
DMIC project discussion
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met Mr. Hatoyama in Mumbai and discussed various issues including the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project, a large area of which passes through Gujarat, government sources said here.
The meeting, which lasted about 40 minutes, was described as “fruitful” by the officials of the Chief Minister’s office.“The meeting will go a long way in strengthening relationship between Japan and Gujarat. The discussions focussed on how to improve ties in the financial, industrial and infrastructure sector,” they said.
“The meeting will open up new vistas of partnership in ship-building, solar energy and renewable energy initiatives,” they added.
Mr. Modi apprised the Japanese Prime Minister of the pledges of investments to the tune of Rs. 12 lakh crore made at the recent Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit in which Japan was a partner.
The Chief Minister thanked Mr. Hatoyama for Japan having agreed to be the country partner of the summit. The sources quoted the Japanese Prime Minister as having said that the DMIC project will be a “core project for not only India but for the global economy.”
