Japan plans to double target for investment in India to $68 billion

New Delhi, Aug 22 (IANS) The Japanese government plans to double the target for private-sector investment in India to 10 trillion yen ($68 billion) over the next 10 years, according to a media report from Tokyo.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to confirm the new target during their meeting in Tokyo on August 29, according to a source-based report in Japan's 'The Asahi Shimbun' newspaper.

This plan will expand upon Japan's current goal of investing 5 trillion yen over five years, which was announced in March 2022 by then Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during his visit to India

The new investment goal is expected to be included in a joint statement following summit talks between Prime Minister Modi and his Japanese counterpart.

PM Modi will be on a three-day visit to Japan starting August 29, his first since May 2023, when he attended the G7 summit in Hiroshima.

Japanese businesses have since invested nearly 1 trillion yen in India every fiscal year on average. The government plans to update the target to further encourage investment by the private sector, the report said.

The two governments also plan to launch an Economic Security Initiative, a new bilateral cooperation framework to address economic security challenges, such as ensuring stable supplies of critical materials and guaranteeing the safety of core infrastructure.

The initiative will prioritise key areas including semiconductors, critical minerals, telecommunications, clean energy, pharmaceuticals and scientific fields such as artificial intelligence.

An AI Cooperation Initiative will be established to specifically advance collaboration in AI technology and startups, The Asahi Shimbun report said.

Additionally, a project called Digital Partnership 2.0 will be developed to expand economic collaboration beyond manufacturing to encompass emerging technological fields, such as semiconductors, AI and startups.

India and Japan are likely to revise and update the 2008 joint declaration on security cooperation during PM Modi's visit. The renewed agreement is expected to reflect contemporary priorities and to be responsive to the current security challenges facing them

In the clean energy sector, Japan and India will issue a Joint Statement on Energy Dialogue aimed at promoting cooperation to simultaneously achieve decarbonisation, economic growth and energy security.

The two countries are expected to announce the introduction of the Joint Crediting Mechanism, a bilateral system that allows Japan to count carbon emissions cuts achieved by spreading its greenhouse gas-reducing technologies in India toward its reduction targets.

The government is also considering setting targets to expand people-to-people exchanges with India, such as "more than 500,000 people coming and going over five years” and “accepting 50,000 Indian nationals (in Japan)".

As part of India's Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project, which is being implemented with Japanese assistance, the two Prime Ministers are expected to reach an agreement on the introduction of the next-generation E10 series bullet train under development by East Japan Railway Co.

PM Modi will attend meetings where Japanese and Indian companies are expected to sign more than 100 memoranda of understanding, including those on investment projects.

--IANS

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