Aiming at world-standard innovation with India’s development capability - “India-Japan Investment Promotion Seminar” regarding Internet of Things -

June 2016

On June 15, JETRO held a seminar in its Headquarters in Tokyo under the theme of two-way investment and joint innovation between India and Japan in the field of the Internet of Things. It was held as a part of a series of cooperative activities related to the Internet of Things which was planned out in a joint statement between India and Japan last December. The aim was to support Japanese companies to enter the Indian market, as well as to create opportunities for business matching between Indian companies in Japan and Japanese companies. The seminar was joined by a total of 232 members, including 164 from Japanese companies who are interested in investment into India or collaboration with Indian companies, and 68 from Indian companies in Japan involved in the IT field.

In his opening remarks, JETRO Executive Vice President Shigeki Maeda pointed out that the economic relationship between India and Japan is still at the developmental stage, comparing it to that between China and Japan. At the same time, he expressed his hope that Japanese companies will invest into more diversified fields in India, including innovations in service, by taking advantage of export-driven manufacturing or information and communication technologies (ICT) as well as expand business into the Indian market.

President Yukio Takeyari at NASSCOM Japan Council emphasized India’s progressiveness in the IT industry as in his keynote speech, stating that India has been conducting just as advanced R&D as Silicon Valley has over the same period, while “reverse innovation” from India to the US has been seen. He also mentioned how Japan is falling behind a global trend: while many companies from across Asia and other developed countries in the world have established R&D sites within India and been recruiting many excellent young engineers locally, there are only a few examples Japanese companies doing the same.
After the two speakers, JETRO invited representatives from three Japanese companies which have experience either working together with Indian companies or conducting development within India to introduce the current status of the IT industry in India and talk about their experiences.

During a panel discussion, representatives from four Indian IT-related companies located in Japan took part in a lively discussion over the following: how to utilize solutions services provided by Indian companies in Japan and differences of business culture to be kept in mind when working together with Indian companies.