FICCI Business Delegation to Japan Coinciding With Visit of The Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee
December 8-10, 2001, Japan

Address by Mr R S Lodha, President, FICCI

Mr. Imai, Chairman, Keidanren,
Mr. Yamaguchi, Chairman, JCCI,
Mr. Kawamoto, Chairman, JIBCC and Vice Chairman, Tokyo -CCI,
Mr. Goenka, President, CII,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates & friends,

I deem it a great honour to join our friends in Tokyo in extending a hearty welcome to our Prime Minister. Our visit to Japan is the logical follow up of the vision crafted by then Prime Minister Mori last year, when he defined our relationship as India-Japan Global Partnership in the 21st Century. Today, as we strive to move along this path, we are indeed privileged to be a part of this momentous occasion. Our Prime Minister’s address will guide us in our effort to take our bilateral relationship from strength to strength in the coming years.

Powerful memories of the historical affinities between India and Japan flashes back to our minds. Dating back to the 6th Century, Buddhism brought us together with the underlying principle of commonality of life forces and harmony with nature. I also recall Tagore’s emotional writings in 1910s & 20s describing the unique cultural bond we share. We share similar social values and unique family bonds that has preserved our closely knit socio-economic fabric. We have been extremely touched by your humanitarian gesture and concern for the victims of the devastating earthquake that caused widespread destruction in Gujarat.

Our endeavour to build a global partnership today is a product of a natural evolution of these bonds. We have no doubt, that there would be now a quantum jump in our partnership in all spheres of activity, particularly in the economic arena.

Japan’s achievements and contributions to the world economy are legendary. Your innovations have revolutionized Technologies, Corporate Management and Production systems. The well known models of Kanban (Just-in-time), Kaizen (continuous improvement) and Ringisho ( consensual decision making ) are enduring concepts and will continue to impart an intrinsic strength to the present day cyberspace driven world.

Since 1991, we in India have been integrating with the global economy. Our Government has taken path-breaking initiatives to deepen the reforms process. We have our own strengths and as India makes rapid strides in the world of Information Technology, slowly but steadily, we are moving towards creating a unique knowledge hub. I strongly urge you to be our partners in this process.

Together we can play a catalytic role in enhancing the I.T. revolution in Asia and in bridging the digital divide. Japan is currently the largest I.T. market in Asia. Yet, India’s software exports to Japan are only US$ 250 million. Japan’s investments in Indian IT industry are also a fraction of what is possible. Let us therefore, effectively collaborate in both hardware & software to deepen the IT networks for a New Age Partnership. In fact Japanese hardware and Indian software companies are made for each other in this rapidly changing sector. Although, we have almost 1000 software experts & over 50 of our IT companies in your country, this number can go up manifold.

You spend more than 2.8 per cent of your GDP on R&D surpassing even the United States. Your pioneering initiatives in development of human resources greatly inspire us. We would like to use your experiences in bridging the digital divide. Our joint projects in these areas could be an effective engine of growth of our region. What is even more inspiring for us is that you have mastered & blended modern technology with your indigenous tradition.

We, in FICCI strongly believe in balancing our old industries with the new economy. As we take initiatives like e-business to integrate our traditional industry with the high-tech sectors, we hope that collectively we can forge new connectivities. We are natural partners in Infrastructure, finance, life sciences, biotechnology & the entire gamut of knowledge-driven industry. Already some of our leading Ayurveda centers are partnering with you institutes in Tokyo to enhance our collaborations in traditional areas of medicine. And in our joint effort to build such bridges, I am sure we will continue to synthesize modernity with tradition. Our complementarities will ensure that we concretize win-win partnerships.

We appreciate and recognize the contribution that Japan has made to India’s Socio-Economic development. India is one of the largest recipients of Japanese assistance today and receives more than US$ 1 billion worth of ODA annually. We appreciate that the hiccups caused by Economic Sanctions are over and our partnership for development could acquire even a greater momentum.

In our own humble way, we pledge to continue our efforts to strengthen our links. FICCI’s Japanese language website will ensure that we appear constantly on each other’s radar screens. Together with the Japan-India Business Cooperation Committee (JIBCC), we are promoting sectoral partnerships between India & Japan through specialised Working Groups.

Friends, even as India deepens its reform process, we recognize that there are problems of implementation. We in FICCI have taken initiatives to bring the Japanese investors and the Government of India together, to facilitate faster commencing of Japanese projects in India. We remain committed to playing the role of a catalyst for expanding the flow of Japanese investments into India.

Recent Survey by Japan Bank for Internatonal Cooperation (JBIC) reveals that 52 Japanese manufacturers have ranked India as one of their top 5 investment destinations. Almost all Japanese investments and Joint Ventures in India have shown good performance. Japanese brands like Sony, Honda, Toyota, Suzuki, National, Hitachi, are well known in and have established strong presence in our country.

We believe that Mori Fellowships will strengthen our human resource networks. Why shouldn’t our children go to your educational institutions, rather than crossing the Atlantic? FICCI is dedicated to work humbly in creating these long-term bridges, which go deep into our mutual consciousness.

Recent events have only underscored the urgency of the need for India-Japan partnership to acquire a truly global dimension. At Doha, both expressed similar concerns in several areas especially misuse of anti-dumping rules, preserving food security and against agricultural subsidies given by the European Union.

It is also necessary that our two countries join hands to strengthen the United Nations and work towards building a new global financial architecture through the Bretton Woods Institutions.

As we face the challenge of China’s entry into the WTO, I am confident that by working together rather than competing, we can find ways to turn, what some perceive as a threat into a joint opportunity to tap the 1.3 billion Chinese consumers.

Besides by strengthening_ourselves and our domestic economy, India is also positioning itself to be a better trading and investment partner of Japan. A prosperous Indian Population with greater buying power would be well placed to purchase greater volumes of Japanese products which are already so popular in our country.

We in industry fully back our Government’s efforts to celebrate 50 years of establishment of our diplomatic relations. FICCI is proud to be associated with the historic celebrations & reaffirm our commitment to make the event a success.

We keenly await our Hon’ble Prime Minister’s address that could help us transcend the limits of ourselves in achieving a new age partnership.