Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on a two-day visit to Tokyo to attend the Quad summit, Monday met with top Japanese business leaders, including Masayoshi Son of SoftBank, Osamu Suzuki of Suzuki Motor Corp, NEC Corporation's Chairman Nobuhiro Endo  and Uniqlo's CEO Tadashi Yanai to discuss investment opportunities in India in sectors ranging from textiles to automobiles, emerging technologies and startups.

Modi held separate bilateral meetings with Japanese business leaders and highlighted investment opportunities under his government's Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.

In his meeting with NEC's Endo, Modi discussed the telecom giant's role, especially in undertaking Chennai-Andaman and Nicobar Islands (CANI) and Kochi-Lakshadweep Islands (KLI) optical fibre cable projects, an official statement said. "They discussed various reforms being undertaken to enable ease of doing business in India, including in industrial development, taxation and labour. They also discussed opportunities in India in new and emerging technologies," the statement said.

Endo said the discussions ranged from ways to contribute to Smart Cities in India and NEC's plans to contribute to the country in the field of education and logistics, among others.

Stating that Prime Minister Modi has a strong intention to build and enhance capabilities in India, Endo said, "We are very happy to contribute to those areas." 

Modi discussed the rapidly growing textile and apparel market of India and investment opportunities under the PLI scheme for textile projects during his meeting with Yanai, who is the chairman, president and CEO of Fast Retailing Co Ltd, the parent company of Uniqlo, the statement said.

"They also discussed various reforms being undertaken to enable ease of doing business for foreign investors in India including in the areas of industrial development, infrastructure, taxation and labour," it added.

Modi also invited Uniqlo's enhanced participation in India's journey to becoming a manufacturing hub for textiles, particularly through the use of technologies in textile manufacturing. Yanai said Uniqlo is exploring investments in the production and retail industry in India.

"We can focus on end-to-end products i.e. from plant to design to fabric," he said, adding the company wants to accelerate growth in India further, while noting that IT talent in the country is excellent.

PM Modi appreciated Softbank Corporation's role in India's startup sector during his meeting with Son, the founder and CEO of the Japanese investment major. "They discussed Softbank's future participation in India in key areas such as technology, energy and finance," the official statement said.

Son said India is "growing very quickly with new startups coming everyday and unicorns coming very quickly", becoming the number three in the world for new startups and unicorns.

"India's future is bright. Prime Minister Modi is committed to the success of India, for supporting startups, for creating more unicorns and making it the centre of high technology in the world," Son reportedly said.

During his meeting with Suzuki, Modi recalled the veteran Japanese industry leader's association with and contribution to India and appreciated the transformational role of Suzuki Motor Corp in the automotive industry of the country.

"They discussed further investment opportunities in India, including setting up of production facilities for electric vehicles and batteries as well as recycling centres, for realizing the goal of sustainable growth," the statement said.

The meeting also discussed strategies for building the local innovation system in India, including skill development through Japan-India Institutes of Manufacturing (JIM) and Japanese Endowed Courses (JEC), it added.

Suzuki Motor Corp President Toshihiro Suzuki described Modi's visit to Japan as "an important milestone in the 70th year of the anniversary of Indo-Japanese diplomatic relations".

"Reforms of Prime Minister Modi are indescribable, in the sense that he is bringing reforms which are changing the whole of India into a model landscape," Suzuki reportedly said, adding the self-reliance theme of Modi is being supported by Japanese investors very strongly.

During his visit to India in April, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that Japan will invest 5 trillion yen (US$42 billion) in India over the next five years to finance public and private projects of mutual interest and enhance bilateral trade.  There was also exchange of notes on 300 billion yen (US$2.5 billion) in loans to India.

Modi also participated in an event in Tokyo to launch discussions for an Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) during which he underlined that the foundation of resilient supply chains must be 3Ts - Trust, Transparency and Timeliness. The US President Joe Biden-led initiative also saw the participation of Japanese PM Kishida as well as the virtual presence of leaders of other partner countries viz. Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

"The IPEF seeks to strengthen economic partnership amongst participating countries with the objective of enhancing resilience, sustainability, inclusiveness, economic growth, fairness, and competitiveness in the Indo-Pacific region," Indina's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

In his comments during the launch ceremony, Modi said that announcement of IPEF is a declaration of a collective desire to make the Indo-Pacific region an engine of global economic growth. He expressed India's commitment towards working with all Indo-Pacific countries for an IPEF which is both inclusive and flexible. 

(SAM)