India seeks FDI from Japan

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC. 20. The Industry Secretary, Mr. P. G. Mankad, today conceded there was urgent need to simplify and rationalise procedures to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) especially from Japan. He said the Japanese investment capacity here was a story of unfulfilled capacity.

At the Invest-In-India Symposium, jointly organised by the FICCI and the Japan External Trade Organisation, he said the Government as a policy welcomed FDI from all countries but Japan was a most favoured country not only because of its capacity to invest but also for its high technological know-how.

Referring to the unfinished agenda needed to be taken up to facilitate investments inflow, he stressed the need for straightening out labour and administrative issues. He said the root cause was the delay in getting approval for FDI. The problem could be tackled by cutting down on time for approval or making a mechanism in which no approval was needed at all.

Mr. Mankad felt the process of dialogue with important countries like Japan should be continued and the mechanism should be institutionalised. This would help exchange of information and constructive criticism could be taken up to create a conducive investment climate for higher FDI inflows.

The Advisor, Sony Corporation, Mr. Jiko Aiko, said the hindrances to investment here were the poor state of infrastructure and the legacy of licence raj. He felt a complementary relationship exists between Japan and India as the former was strong in hardware and the latter excels in software.

However, the software industry was not sufficient to conquer the mass poverty of this country. He said it was important to understand that the job creating capacity of the information technology industry was limited. The success of the IT sector should enable India to develop its industrial and agricultural sectors. Otherwise, he cautioned, the development of the software industry itself would be jeopardised by the negative elements of the digital divide.

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