Japan today asked India and other countries to enhance their business cooperation to help revive its economy, that is expected to take a hit of one per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) due to the recent disasters.
Japanese deputy minister (economy) in the foreign ministry, Shinichi Nishimiya, claimed the recovery and reconstruction processes started by his country managed to restrict the damage from the deadly March earthquake and tsunami to one per cent of GDP.
He said Japan hoped the world, especially India, would step up inflow of business and leisure tourists to his country and resume buying its quality products.
“India is projected ahead of China as a long-term economic prospect, particularly in the area of manufacturing, by the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation,” Nishimiya said.
He expressed hope that signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between Japan and India was bound to boost bilateral trade and investment. “Japan has the cutting-edge manufacturing technologies and India continues to grow at a rapid pace,” he declared.
He said the bilateral trade at $12.9 billion, though up from $9.3 billion a year ago, was far below expectations.
In October 2010, there were as many as 725 Japanese companies operating in India, up from 624 in 2009. He said 70,000 Indians visited Japan in 2010, a rise of 13 per cent over the previous year.
“This number would increase, as Japan overcomes the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. The ‘Visit Japan’ campaign and the exchange of youth programme launched by the Japanese government three years ago, would go a long way in encouraging Indians to travel to Japan, giving the inevitable boost to trade and investment,” Nishimiya said.
