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PM Modi woos Japan business leaders, promises better investment environment, speedy decisions

By FnF Desk | PUBLISHED: 01, Sep 2014, 11:49 am IST | UPDATED: 01, Sep 2014, 12:31 pm IST

PM Modi woos Japan business leaders, promises better investment environment, speedy decisions Tokyo: Speaking on the third day of his Japan visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday pitched for greater cooperation between the two nations and invited the Japanese business leaders to invest in India while promising them better investment opportunities and speedy decisions by his government.

Speaking at business lunch by Nippon Keidanren at Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, PM Modi said, “India and Japan have a responsibility beyond that of bilateral relations. Indian and Japanese businessmen can give a direction to the world economy. Naturally, expectations from Japan are high as our ties are much older. We also want to work with Japan in the field of research and skill development.”

Calling for a greater cooperation between the two nations, Prime Minister Modi said, “We know that businessmen need a good environment to grow and this is our responsibility. The state has to be policy driven. We have given importance to good governance and to processes. We are looking at how to integrate technology with Governance.”

“In the coming days you'll get the same speed and response that you have experienced in Gujarat when I was the Chief Minister in past,” PM further said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also stressed that the steps taken by him in the past 100 days have yielded positive results. “The initiatives which we have taken in past 100 days, the steps that we taken...the results of which are clear,” he added.

He said that he has made the Prime Minister Office "more efficient, more productive" and have taken a lot of initiatives in our Budget, Defence and Railways.”

During his speech, the Prime Minister also cited the example of Gujarat to woo business leaders of Japan. Modi said that if the Gujarat experience is a parameter, then "that response, that speed", businesses will get in India.

“Being a Gujarati, commerce is in my blood so I understand that it is the policymakers and government's responsibility to provide good environment for businessmen,” PM Modi said.

Modi continued by saying, “Japan is known for quality of its products and India's huge untapped young population can contribute to its workforce requirement.”

Seeking Tokyo's help in developing skill development in India, Modi said, Japan can "really help us with this".

The Prime Minister also announced that a special team will be set up to facilitate Japanese investments in India. “We have decided that directly under PMO we want to create a team that will work to facilitate Japan investments in India,” the PM said, while stressing that “If we want to lead the world's economy then India and Japan have to work together.”

“21st century is Asia's century, the world has accepted it. The question on my mind is - how will it be? We have to provide the answer,” PM Modi stressed,.

After his speech, PM Modi was given a standing ovation by Japanese business honchos at Japan Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

After a busy day in the former Japanese capital Kyoto where he visited two ancient Buddhist temples, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will today summit talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Tokyo to bolster bilateral security and economic ties.

The two leaders, who share cordial relations, will have a substantive summit meeting during which they will look at ways to take the Strategic and Global Partnership forward.

Modi has a substantive agenda during the trip which he hopes will "write a new chapter" in bilateral ties and take the Strategic and Global Partnership to a higher level.

Cooperation in the fields of defence, civil nuclear, infrastructure development and rare earth material is expected to top the agenda of the discussions. Some agreements, including in defence and civil nuclear sectors, are expected to be signed. Among the agreements to be signed is one on joint production of rare earth materials.

"I am keenly looking forward to my visit to Japan at the invitation of my good friend, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, for the annual summit between India and Japan," Modi had said in his pre-departure statement.

Noting that this will be his first bilateral visit outside the immediate neighbourhood as Prime Minister, he said it underlines "the high priority" that Japan receives in India's foreign and economic policies. "It is also a reflection of Japan's paramount importance in my vision for development and prosperity in India and in peace, stability and prosperity in Asia at large," Modi said.

"I am confident that my visit will write a new chapter in the annals of the relations between Asia's two oldest democracies and take our Strategic and Global Partnership to the next higher level," he said.

During his two-day stay in Kyoto, Modi witnessed signing of a pact under which his constituency Varanasi will be developed as a 'smart city' in partnership with the Japanese city, which is a confluence of heritage and modernity.

Abe had specially come to Kyoto from Tokyo to meet Modi. The Japanese Prime Minister rarely greet a foreign leader outside the national capital. On the second day of his Japan tour, Modi on Sunday offered prayers at two prominent ancient Buddhist temples in Kyoto and sought help from a Japanese Nobel Prize-winning stem cell researcher to develop a treatment for Sickle Cell Anaemia, a deadly disease commonly found among tribal people in India.

In Kinkakuji temple, the Prime Minister mingled with tourists and visitors and posed for photographs with groups of people. He began his day with a visit to the ancient Toji Temple. He was accompanied by his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe at the famous temple which is a UNESCO world heritage site.
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