India, Japan to step up economic diplomacy
Thursday, 06 January 2005, 20:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: India and Japan are going to step up economic diplomacy in 2005. Three Japanese ministers are set to visit New Delhi in January. This will be followed by the visit of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, sometime early in the year, Japanese ambassador Yasukuni Enoki said Thursday. Shoich Nakagawa, Japan's minister of economy, trade and industry, Sadakazu Tanigaki, the minister of finance, and Heizo Takenaka, the minister for economic and fiscal policy, will visit New Delhi this month. The business ties between the two countries are set to grow this year. A survey on Japanese manufacturers' overseas operations by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation shows that India's ranking in the list of promising investment destinations climbed to the third position, as compared to the fifth rank last year. The gap between the vast potential for trade between India and Japan and reality, however, continues to be large. "Japan has a growing interest in the Indian market. But actual investment is far less than the potential," the Japanese envoy said. "This is because India is still a relatively an unknown market for most of the Japanese. The lack of information coupled with infrastructure problems in India are additional problems afflicting Japanese companies wishing to invest in India," Enoki explained. The bilateral trade between India and Japan was estimated to be $4.5 billion in 2004. "Although trade balance is more or less even, the current volume of trade is much lower than expected," Enoki said. Certainly there was more scope, he added. A slew of high-profile events are also scheduled this year which will help crystallise the burgeoning business ties between the two countries. A Japan-India symposium will be organised by the Japanese embassy and the Confederation of Indian Industry CII March 16. A conference centred round the theme of "Destination India" will be held from April 21-32. Besides, if guest countries are invited at the G-8 summit to be held in Britain in July, Japan would like India to be invited, the envoy said, underlining the emergence of India and Japan as reliable allies.
Source: IANS
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