Maharashtra to have one stop shop for Japanese firms

Aiming to do business with Japan in a big way, Maharashtra government on Sunday said it will have a one stop shop to monitor all projects involving Japanese companies.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who returned after a four-day trip to Japan today, told PTI that the state government has decided to set up a special desk in Mantralaya (state secretariat) to oversee these projects.

"A special desk will be set up along with JETRO to do hand holding for Japanese companies. "This will be a sort of one stop shop," the Chief Minister said.

Fadnavis said NIDEC Corporation (Nihon Den-san Kabushiki Kaisha), wor-ld's leading manufacturer of electric motors, will send its team to Maharashtra to explore investment opportunities.

"NIDEC Corporation manufactures electric motors for hard disk drives, electronic appliances and automobiles," said Fadnavis, who met Shigenobu Nagamori of the Japanese company during the last leg of his Japan tour.

"The company will send a team to Maharashtra to explore investment opportunities," he said.

Fadnavis also visited the Yokohama port and revie-wed the development work being carried out. Fadnavis and Industries Minister Subhash Desai visited the port, which handles 27 million tonne of cargo.

He also attended and addressed a function organised by Association of Friends of Japan. "The Association has agreed to work as a facilitating centre in Japan to bring investment in Maharashtra," he said.

During his visit, the Maharashtra Chief Minister, who unveiled Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's statue at Koyasan University in Japan, said "Ambedkar’s struggle and principles for human dignity, social equality and justice is universal and relevant even in the modern age."

Fadnavis had on September 8 embarked on a four-day visit to Japan where he held consultations with captains of Japanese trade and commerce for investment opportunities back home.

He was accompanied by top officials of Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), on the trip.