BENGALURU: Japanese investments in India will continue to increase despite the economic slowdown, said Kenichi Watanabe, senior advisor to the board of Nomura Holdings, Japan’s financial giant.
Watanabe further said Japanese Industrial Township (JIT) set up in Tumkur, Karnataka is operational and ready for investments. JITs were agreed to be developed as one of the initiatives in ‘Japan-India Investment Promotion Partnership’ announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe.
Meanwhile, a delegation from Friendship Exchange Council (FEC) met Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday, deliberating on various economic ties between Japan and India. FEC is a non-profit organisation based in Japan with the purpose of intensifying the friendship with foreign countries at the private and business level and has members from nearly 1,000 major Japanese companies.
Terming Bengaluru as the centre of excellence of IT in India, Watanabe said it can supply latest IOT, AI, BT technologies on a global basis. As the direct flight from Bengaluru to Tokyo will begin from next year, “which is designed to connect San Francisco easily, the connection of three cities will definitely increase the interaction among themselves and contribute to the growth of the world economy,” he said.
Consul-General of Japan in Bengaluru Takayuki Kitagawa said big Japanese firms are increasingly partnering with local start-ups for the pursuance of their enhancement of innovative power. “Under the strong leadership of the state government, our office will continue promoting the Japanese investment in Karnataka together with Japan External trade Organisation and Japan International Cooperation Agency,” Kitagawa said.