India Today Indo-Japan Conclave 2022: Japanese businesses make ‘far more serious investments’ in China, ASEAN than in India, says Dr S Jaishankar 

Dr S Jaishankar at Indo-Japan Conclave 2022: External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said in his keynote address at the India Today Indo-Japan Conclave 2022 that while many Japanese companies had their businesses in India, they could not scale as much here as they did in other countries. He added that Japanese businesses make "far more serious investments" in other ASEAN countries and China compared to India. 

Dr Jaishankar elaborated on the reasons behind this and said, "There were a number of reasons for this. I think partly the enabling environment did not meet Japanese expectations which essentially meant that the Indian system did not particularly make an effort to get Japanese businesses in." He added there were infrastructure and cultural issues. 

Jaishankar furthermore stated that Japanese businesses came up against Indian businesses and competed in key segments. The firebrand Foreign Minister also said that while there has been an increase in Japanese investments in India, they still haven't translated into greater trade. 

Jaishankar said, "Japanese investments in India is different from Japanese investments in China and ASEAN. The investments here do not go back to Japan in the form of product. But their investments in China do."

He also remembered former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Jaishankar said, "Perhaps the first change I would argue is that Japan started approaching India with a strategic outlook and for this, I would say that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was particularly and personally responsible."

He further mentioned that projects such as the metro and high-speed rail are great investments for efficient urbanisation. 

The External Affairs Minister further stated that Abe was trying to prepare Japan for a bigger role and to secure its own interests more nationally due to the late Japanese Prime Minister's non-traditional approach towards international relations. Jaishankar said, "In his (Abe's) view, a Japan which goes out in the world needed more partners, reliable partners, and India fitted the bill." 

Hiroshi Suzuki, Ambassador of Japan to India, and Raj Chengappa, Group Editorial Director (Publishing), India Today Group were also present at the event.

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