India, Japan to strengthen investment, trade ties

India and Japan Friday agreed to further strengthen investment and trade ties by ensuring faster implementation of ongoing projects.

Both the countries have agreed to support planned initiatives and projects in this year designed for strengthening business partnership to be organized by Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), a joint statement by Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma and Japan's Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshimitsu said here Friday.

Sharma is here in Tokyo to attend "India Investment Roundtable" jointly organized by his ministry's department of industrial policy and promotion and Confederation of Indian Industry.

The statement both the countries have agreed to deepen discussion on concrete measures on India-Japan Investment Promotion, reaffirming the expansion of investment as being essential for the global, strategic and complementary economic relationship between the two countries.

The Delhi Mumbai Industrial Development Corridor (DMIDC) is the largest infrastructure project under implementation. Out of the 12 greenfield projects, eight are along the DMIDC and master plan for seven of them have been completed.

Sharma said besides infrastructure, electronic hardware is another key area where India and Japan can collaborate. The demand for electronic hardware in India is increasing rapidly and Japan's support in meeting this demand would be important.

India has emerged as a key destination for foreign investors in recent years as a result of economic liberalization and increasing integration of India with the global economy. The government has opened up multi-brand retail and civil aviation markets to 51 and 49 percent FDI respectively and more reforms in insurance and pension sectors, among others were in the pipeline, it said.

The statement said both the countries have agreed to expedite the process of "Smart Community Projects" such as seawater desalination at Dahej, Gujarat; power system stabilization project in Gujarat; and a microgrid system using large-scale photovoltaic (PV) power generation at Neemrana Industrial Area in Rajasthan.