By our correspondent, Gandhinagar, 17 October 2013

Japan-Gujarat relations are seeing the best time at present. Ambassador of Japan to India Mr. Takeshi Yagi in his speech today said Gujarat will be a new Japanese manufacturing hub in India.

“We had two important conferences in Gujarat this February – one on High Speed Railway and the other on Urban Traffic Development. On the High Speed Railway, the two governments agreed in the month of May that we would co-finance a joint feasibility study on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route. An MoU was signed just ten days ago with JICA to commission the study which is expected to be completed in 18 months. Please keep in mind that most of the 500 km Mumbai-Ahmedbad route runs through Gujarat.”

“On Urban Traffic Development, a conference featuring various technologies in this field was held in Gujarat in February involving the govt of Gujarat and the ministry of Urban Development. As a followup of that conference, JICA has started a pilot survey for technologies to implement the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) in Ahmedabad with cooperation with the Gujarat state police and the city of Ahmedabad. This will eventually lead to deployment of state of the art systems including camera traffic censors, traffic processing center and electronic information boards. Combining ITS with BRT, I hope Gujarat will be able to showcase the most advanced traffic model which will present a defining solution to chronic traffic problems in India.”

“This month the govt of Japan has commissioned Toyota to conduct a survey on the construction of a new Ahmedabad international airport on Public Private Partnership(PPP) basis. Best of Japanese expertise for airport management at Ahmedabad will transform Ahmedabad airport into the world-class airport.”

The ambassador said Gujarat is strategically important for Japan. He said Japan is committed to develop DMIC and DFC which will form the spine of DMIC, and Gujarat is the key in both. This visionary strategic project will enable Gujarat to access cutting edge technologies. Urban development will also be a key component of DMIC.

Takeshi Yagi praised Gujarat’s business and development friendly environment and pointed out that ten years ago there were only six Japanese companies in Gujarat and now there are more than 60.

He said, “several Japanese companies are seriously contemplating inroads in Gujarat. Gujarat will be a new Japanese manufacturing hub in India. Hitachi, the electronic goods giant already operating its AC manufacturing unit at Kadi, Maruti Suzuki is opening its third manufacturing plant in Gujarat. Jetro in cooperation with GIDC has been promoting the industrial park dedicated to Japanese manufacturers. It plans to host more than 50 Japanese companies.”

The ambassador said, “we need to kick start the smart community project which is now in gestation. The showcase project in this field is Dahej desalination project with Hitachi which once completed will become Asia’s largest desalination project. Another will be the solar canal project.”

Takesh Yogi sought state govt support to take off these projects. He also spoke about advantages of doing business in Gujarat and said, “The Japanese companies in Gujarat find it easier to do business, which is supported by easier land acquisition policy, abundant electricity and good infrastructure.”

The ambassador said that by the end of the current year more than 1,000 Japanese companies would be operating in India, which underlines the importance the south Asian country holds for the firms from East Asia.

Speaking at the same event the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industries in India Chief Masakazu Sakakida said there will be 1,000 Japanese companies working in India by end of this year.

Speaking about Gujarat, he said, “in Gujarat we have no big difficulties with the support of stable government. Gujarat state has high advantage of having a good infrastructure and geographical location. There’s no risk in land acquisition. More than 60 Japanese companies have set up their offices in Gujarat, thanks to the support of govt of Gujarat. I am confident for further prosperity of Gujarat state.”

He said, “Japanese companies are working so hard in establishing and expanding their business in India, but are facing some difficulties such as stalled infrastructure, land acquisition etc. To support such efforts of Japanese companies, we Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industries have identified some areas to improve and have submitted some suggestions to the central govt since 2009. With full support of Japanese embassy we have been made some progress. I wish to expand the good investment environment that prevails in Gujarat over all the India. We believe this progress will attract new investment and technology from Japan to India which also can create new employment opportunities.”