Pace of Indo-Japan FTA implementation needs to be enhanced: Sitharaman

The Dollar Business Bureau

The Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman  on Monday said that the pace for implementing the India and Japan free trade agreement (FTA) needs to be increased further in order to exploit its huge potential. During a meeting between the minister and Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Hiroshige Seko this and many other issues were discussed.

Sitharaman said that the implementation of Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and Japan has been slightly steady and required to be increased with faster pace in order to tap the great potential of bilateral trade between the two countries, an official statement said.

Seko said that there is a lot of potential for cooperation between the two countries and stated that 25 companies from Japan are taking part in the ongoing Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2017 with great enthusiasm. 

The Japanese side requested that the Transfer Pricing assessment issue and others as has been raised from time-to-time by Japan Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India (JCCII) should be sorted out in order to attract more investments from Japan in India.

The business delegates participating from Japan stated that they want to diversify their businesses in India in various sectors including agriculture, electronics, power, logistics, railways and manufacturing of ATMs and also to contribute in the development of India. 

The Japanese delegation expressed their interest in augmenting cooperation in the field of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) between the two countries and proposed to provide training to India’s IPR examiners in Japan. The minister invited 100 Indian IPR examiners to train in Japan.

Sitharaman requested her counterpart from Japan to take measures to enhance India’s exports to Japan in surimi fish, sesame seeds and generic drugs. She further said that the Japanese Industrial Townships (JITs) in the country would be transformational and will attract significant investments from Japan and strengthen economic cooperation between the two nations.