Premji for stronger Indo-Japanese ties

Wipro chairman Azim Premji has said that a stronger Indo-Japanese bilateral relations would lead to a more stable and prosperous Asia.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Indo-Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Premji said, "A broader and deeper economic relation between the countries will form the cornerstone of the bilateral relationship, since both countries are strongly committed to an open and non-discriminatory rule-based multilateral trading system."

The new chamber between the two countries has been formed to act as an industrial consultant, investment promoter and business facilitator, arranging mutual visits of delegations between the two countries. It will explore more areas of co-operation.

Recollecting the Japanese premier's proposal for collaboration in economic exchanges, human resources exchanges and private sector exchanges during his visit to India about two years ago, Premji said that Japan was eager to promote exchanges of human resources to explore new Indo-Japanese co-operation on IT.

"Japan and India also proposed to begin a dialogue on such policy issues as e-government and e-commerce. Apart from IT, Karnataka is an ideal destination for Japanese investment in fields like agriculture, automobiles, infrastructure and sericulture. Currently, the Indian sectors that attracted major Japanese investments include automotive, chemical, electronic and electric goods. The truth is that human resources and technology can go hand-in-hand in making a real contribution to the broader community in the two countries," Premji said.

"While Japanese manufacturing companies create wonderful and innovative products," Premji added, "Indian companies have supported them with information technology services."

According to Premji, the advantages of working with Japan include world class information and communication technology (ICT) facility, a highly reliable logistic infrastructure and other investor-friendly facilities.

"Responding to economic globalisation, commercial laws and major elements of country's economic legal framework have been reformed by the Japanese government. It is significant to note that many a foreign company doing businesses in Japan have posted higher profit even than Japanese companies themselves," Premji said.

Premji said that Japan had identified four major areas of foreign investment, namely, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), biotechnology, medical care and environment. "The ICT market is expected to grow to Yen 84 trillion ($822 billion) by 2010 according to the Ministry of public management, home affairs, posts and telecommunications.

The Japanese biotech market is world's second largest. The market is expected to grow to Yen 25 trillion ($245 billion) by 2010, according to some estimates. Investment potential areas identified include regenerative medicine; protein analysis; and functional foods," Premji explained.

Elaborating on medical care and environment as other key investment opportunities in Japan, Premji said that by 2010, the medical car market is likely to grow to Yen 4.5 trillion ($44 billion) from estimated Yen 1.3 trillion ($12.7 billion) in 2000 as mentioned in some reports.

"The eco-business in Japan is estimated to grow to Yen 40.1 trillion ($393 billion) by 2010, according to the Japanese Ministry of Environment. The waste disposal-related market is expected to grow to Yen 40 trillion ($392 billion) by 2010. The environment market offers air pollution control business; soil and water purification business; effluent treatment business; and energy saving and alternative energy business," he said.