UP takes lead in rolling out red carpet for Japanese firms: Senior minister

Uttar Pradesh on Thursday took the lead in attracting USD 2.2 billion fund created by Japan for its industries willing to move out of China, for which the state government is undertaking various labour and sectoral reforms, a senior minister said.

"Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has a strong desire that more and more investments should come to the state so that people get additional employment opportunities," UP MSME and Export Promotion minister Sidharth Nath Singh said.

Singh was interacting with Japanese Ambassador to India Satoshi Suzuki through video conferencing.

During the interaction, Suzuki evinced keen interest in sectors like electronics, food processing, industrial parks, pharmaceutical, medical equipment and automobile.

Singh said a Japanese help desk will be set up in the state to assist entrepreneurs from that country.

He said that UP has a vast land bank and was rich in skilled human resources to facilitate investment in the state.

Suzuki said the Japanese government has created USD 2.2 billion fund to help companies migrating from China.

Accepting the coronavirus pandemic as not just a challenge but also a big opportunity for the economy, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to offer a special package to investors "disenchanted" with China and eager to shift base to other countries, a senior official said.

"Many companies appear to be disenchanted with China. If a company or investor wants to invest in the state, the government will give them a special package and facility," the official said.

The chief minister has asked officials to work out the package, which could be offered to investors in addition to the existing incentives.

The chief minister has recently asked his ministers and senior officials to discuss the matter with the embassies of different countries and has asked his ministers to make all-out efforts to take advantage of this opportunity.

The outbreak of coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year has dealt a major blow to the global economy because of lockdowns imposed around the world to contain the virus.

China itself had to shut down its central Hubei province for over two months since January 23. Data released by the Chinese government recently showed the country's GDP took the worst hit since 1976.