Japan’s Vice Minister Sasaki

JETRO chief

Gandhinagar, 11 January 2013

It was really a big delegation from Japan here in Gandhinagar that had come to take part in the Vibrant Gujarat Global Business Summit.

Auto tycoon Anand Mahindra said on twitter: Half of Tokyo seemed to be at the Vibrant Gujarat summit.

The inauguration session of the summit was graced by Japan’s Vice Minister and Japan’s envoy to India.

Japan’s envoy in his speech described Gujarat as an amazing state and said, “One of the important events in the early months of my tenure was my trip to Gujarat. It was indeed an eye opener to observe and understand first hand the importance of the state. Gujarat is a key state in this entire picture. Gujarat occupies the largest area in the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor. And Gujarat has been attracting foreign direct investment from all over the world thanks to its superior port and road connectivity, as well as abundant power capacity. Ten years ago there were only six Japanese companies operating from Gujarat, but now there are sixty.”

“However new bottlenecks will eventually emerge as industrial concentration develops. For example stable and quality supply of water, skilled labor, environmental problems due to rapid urbanization, but in those areas the govt. of Japan can be of help in the form of technical operations.”

“I wish to emphasize the Japanese govt’s strong interest in assisting an Indian aspiration to introduce the high speed railway. We understand that the first line is planned to be laid between Ahmedabad and Mumbai. In this connection I have the pleasure of announcing that our government will hold two conferences in the coming months in cooperation with the state of Gujarat. One on high speed railway and another on urban traffic development.”

Later Japan’s Meti Vice Minister of International affairs in his speech talked about Japan’s new Prime Minister Mr. Abe’s strong acquaintance with Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi. Vice Minister pointed out the difficulties faced in India like procedures, permissions and others and said some Japanese investors have given up due to such hurdles.

But he added that Gujarat turns out to be a good destination for Japanese companies.

“Gujarat has a strong global business network, ” he said.

As soon as he announced that he is here in Gujarat with over 100 participants, those in his delegation stood up in the hall. Everyone was surprised to see this big participation from Japan in the Vibrant Gujarat summit.

“They are seeking business opportunities in India and especially in Gujarat,” the minister said.

Praising the Gujarat Chief Minister, the Japanese Vice Minister said, “I met him last July when he was visiting Japan. I was moved with his vision.”

Later in the JETRO seminar, Japanese companies signed MoUs with Indian partners. One of the MoU was about setting up the world’s largest desalination plant at Dahej in central Gujarat.