First Invest Japan Seminar in two Indian cities: Mumbai and Bangalore

February 2016

The Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) held its large-scale Invest Japan Seminars for the first time in India: in Mumbai on February 23 and in Bangalore on February 24 in 2016. The events received 100 participants from Indian companies and related organizations in Mumbai and 216 participants in Bangalore. With extensive coverage from Indian media sources, the seminars proved an excellent opportunity for JETRO to widely disseminate information on attractive markets and business opportunities in Japan.

These seminars were held as part of the “Japan-India Internet of Things (IoT) Investment Initiative” inked by Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, and Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of the Republic of India, at the summit meeting held in Delhi in December 2015.

JETRO hosted the Mumbai Invest Japan Seminar with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and invited speakers from two successful Indian companies. Ramesh Swaminathan, CFO of the world leading pharmaceutical manufacturer Lupin Limited, shared his company’s recent experience expanding business following its initial locations in Tokyo and Osaka. He said Lupin wants to enhance business in Japan, which offers the third largest pharmaceutical market in the world, and expressed his company’s intention to increase investment in the country even further. The other speaker was Shamdutt Kamble, Group Head of Industrial Automation at Wipro. The company has the largest presence of any Indian IT company in Japan, and Mr. Kamble shared his views on what kind of values need to be focused on when Indian companies do business in Japan, citing examples of his company. He underlined that Wipro’s focus is placed on building “shinrai,” which means “trust” in English, by introducing strict quality control for Japanese customers and employing able experts.

At the Invest Japan Seminar held under the co-sponsorship of JETRO and the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC), MN Vidyashankar, President of the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), delivered the keynote speech and shared some examples from the members of his association who successfully made investments into Japan. He also said, “My Association is to set up an office in Japan and we want to explore more collaboration with Japanese companies.” In the following speeches by Indian companies, two speakers came from Tata Elxi: Manager Mr. Ravi and Business Manager for Transportation Design & Engineering Business Mr. Richi. Both representatives emphasized that once a good relationship has been built with a Japanese company, it can be maintained over a long period. Amit Rana, Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder of TechJini Solutions, referred to JETRO’s support for starting up business in Japan, saying, “JETRO provided various support in various schemes such as provision of free office space and assistance for obtaining visas” and he called on participants to actively utilize JETRO.

At the receptions following both seminars, participants actively exchanged information on business development in Japan. Two local governments, Wakayama Prefecture and Yokohama City, set up PR booths to promote their respective areas as attractive destinations for investment (Wakayama Prefecture only took part in Mumbai). JETRO set up a booth to respond to the individual inquiries of seminar participants.