India Japan Commerce Ministers Bilateral Meeting

Commerce and Industry Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman welcomed the Japanese delegation led by Hiroshige Seko, Minister, Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry (METI), Japan.

She stated that the pace of implementation of India- Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) has been rather steady and needed to be enhanced with faster pace to tap the huge potential of India- Japan bilateral trade.

Hiroshige Seko, Minister, Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry, Japan,while welcoming various steps taken by the Govt. of India for Make in India and other initiatives for India’s Growth, said that there is a huge potential for Indo- Japanese Cooperation.

The Japanese side requested that the issue of Transfer Pricing assessment and other ones as raised by Japan Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India (JCCII)from time to time need to be resolved for attracting greater Japanese Investments in India.

The Japanese business delegates briefed about their business presence in India and intimated that they wanted to diversify their business in India in Sectors such as Agriculture, Power, Electronics, Railways, Logistics Sectors, manufacturing of ATMs etc. and wanted to contribute to the development of India.

The Japanese side expressed interest in enhancing co-operation in the area of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) between India and Japan and intended to train Indian IPR examiners in Japan. They expressed the need for a high level meeting between India and Japan on IPR cooperation. Minister of METI, Japan also extended an invitation to 100 IPR Examiners for training in Japan.

Smt. Sitharaman requested the Japanese side to take steps to increase Indian Exports to Japan in Sesame seeds, Surimi fish and Indian generic drugs. She said that the Japanese Industrial Townships (JITs) in India would be transformational and will bring in significant Japanese investments and further strengthen India- Japan Economic Cooperation.

On the Logistics front she  mentioned that India plans to build Logistics University wherein the cooperation from Japan would be needed.