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The Japanese government, to further augment bilateral trade between India and Japan, has invited Indian companies to explore business opportunities in the manufacturing and healthcare sectors under the new “Society 5.0” initiative.
Speaking at the ‘Japan- India Innovation Dialogue: To Co-Create Future Innovation’, Shinya Fujii, Director, Service Industry Department, Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) HQ, said: “The Japanese government has come up with the concept of new smart society, ‘Society 5.0’, which aims to address various social challenges arising due to the acute human resource shortage and the ageing society, through the adoption of new-age technologies such as Industry 4.0, i.e., AI, IoT, Big Data, Robotics etc.”
“Such initiatives would further create a great demand for Indian IT and engineering companies and start-ups, which can explore several business opportunities, especially in the field of manufacturing, mobility, healthcare and agriculture etc,” he added.
Encouraging Indian interest
In order to promote more investments from the Indian companies, JETRO has already established a dedicated Indian Desk under its “Invest Japan” initiative to assist and give step-wise support to Indian companies, and provide the incubation facilities. JETRO has successfully facilitated the investment of approximately 35 Indian companies, and is actively helping business expansion of more than 60 Indian companies in Japan.
Anticipating this trend, JETRO has broadened the scope of its services under the “Invest Japan” programme, to assist overseas start-up companies as well. Apart from providing Incubation facilities, JETRO will also extend services such as mentoring, B2B facilitation, and support in getting Japanese VC fund access etc. to the overseas start-ups.
Start-up hub
The ‘Japan-India Innovation dialogue’ was attended by a delegation of around 30 large Japanese conglomerates, who interacted with around 200 Indian companies’ delegates. The meet was also to enable business collaborations between Japanese companies and Indian IT companies and start-ups in Bengaluru.
Gaurav Gupta, Karnataka Principal Secretary, Department of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science & Technology (ITBT&ST), said: “It is fitting that the ‘Japan India Start-up Hub’ is based in Bengaluru as the Department of ITBT&ST already has an ongoing relationship with the Mie Prefectural, Government of Japan, for implementing a joint project of skill development and placement in the IT and electronics sectors.”
“This programme aims to leverage the availability of highly-skilled personnel in Karnataka to facilitate appropriate skilling and placement in domain-specific companies in the Mie Prefecture. Through this programme, engineers from Karnataka have been sent to work in companies based in Japan,” he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Kishore Alva, President BCIC, and President and Executive Director, Adani - Udupi Power Corporation said: “The relationship between Japan and India has expanded significantly in recent years, particularly in light of the changes that have taken place globally.”
“Japan as we understand is home to many successful businesses, big and small. It is also a home to a thriving and diverse business community — life sciences, high-end technology, advanced manufacturing and business services to list a few. The incentives and benefits that Japan offers to businesses, makes it a great place to locate a company,” he added.
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