India to open special window for Japanese investments

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today proposed a special management team be set up directly under the prime minister's office to facilitate Japanese investments in India.

In his keynote address at the luncheon hosted by Nippon Kiedanren, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Japan-India Business Cooperation Committee today, Modi announced that a special management team would be set up directly under the PMO to facilitate investment proposals from Japan.

He said two nominees selected by Japan would also be part of the decision-making team, which evaluates business proposals.

The prime minister invited Japanese business leaders to invest in India and promised them better investment opportunities and speedy decisions by his government.

Modi, who arrived in Japan on Saturday for a five-day trip aimed at capitalising on a personal affinity with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe to bolster security and business ties with Asia's second largest economy.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, on his part, is expected to propose a doubling of Japanese investment in India over the next five years, from around $2 billion last year, even as his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi has pitched for greater cooperation between the two countries.

The Nikkei business daily reported on Monday that Japan aims to double its direct investment in India in five years from some $2 billion last year.

Recalling his close connect with Japanese business leaders as the chief minister of Gujarat, the prime minister said he recognised the importance of good governance, ease of business and simplification of policies. He assured Japanese businessmen and investors of policy-driven decisions to eliminate delays.

Highlighting the initiatives of the first 100 days of his government, he said moves to ease FDI rules have been widely appreciated. He said the GDP growth of 5.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2014-15 has generated a huge positive sentiment.

He said the clear mandates received by the governments of both India and Japan, and the political stability they had generated, would deliver a strong push to bilateral ties.

The prime minister said he wanted India to follow the Japanese model for skill development, so that its demographic dividend can meet the global requirement of skilled manpower. He said he had initiated a move to introduce the Japanese principles of management in the PMO as well.

Exhorting Japanese business to invest in India, the prime minister said India-Japan relations go much further than just commerce. He noted that the 21st century will be Asia's century, but wondered how it would look like. He said that for meeting the aspirations of people in this century, India and Japan have a big role to play.

Outlining the approaches for development (vikaswaad) vs expansionism (vistarwaad), he said India and Japan must show the way of Buddha to the world, and act as a force for development.

Saying that the Who's Who of India's business had come to Japan with him, the prime minister said they were his partners in taking India forward. Now, he said, India and Japan should be partners, for Asia and the world.