The presence of Japanese industries in Tamil Nadu is on the rise, Masanori Nakano, Consul-General of Japan in Chennai, said here on Thursday.
Speaking at a reception accorded to him by the Indo-Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he pointed out that from 80 the number of Japanese industrial units in the State had increased to 240 in the past three years. “And our people are also getting closer.”
Noting that the Japan-India relationship had been growing over the years, he said the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which was signed in February, was an important milestone. He thanked India for its gesture of real friendship when his country suffered a major tragedy in the form of tsunami and also earthquakes recently.
B.S. Raghavan, former civil servant, said India had too long been obsessed with “look-West policies” and had been modelling itself on western advanced nations. Now, with the economic clout that the nations like China and Japan enjoyed, it was time to “look East”.
Suresh Krishna, chairman of the chamber, welcoming the gathering, said India now had almost 300 industrial units promoted by the Japanese entrepreneurs.
This was the only bilateral chamber in the country and its current focus was on facilitating small and medium enterprises.
N. Krishnaswamy, president of the chamber, said without understanding the language and culture of Japan it would be very difficult to do business with the country. Hence, the chamber already had a language school and separate cells for educating and enlightening entrepreneurs on Japanese business skills and mores and on intellectual property rights.
