As of October 2022, some 228 Japanese firms have set up 537 offices across Karnataka and this number is only on the rise, indicating a steady increase in trade collaborations between Japan and Karnataka, said Tsutomu Nakane, Consul General of Japan in Bengaluru, on Friday.
“Japanese companies can expand their exports and reach to Middle East countries and Africa through India,” he observed.
Mr. Tsutomu was speaking at a summit, ‘Make in India with Japan for the Globe’, organised jointly by the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC), PwC, and The Indo-Japan Business Council (IJBC).
The collaboration between companies in Karnataka and Japan could largely enhance the State’s vision of one trillion-dollar economy by 2032, he said.
“Japan-India business cooperation will bring synergy to both economies by combining Japanese manufacturing know-how with India’s information technology capabilities supported by its abundant talented workforce,” the Consul General said.
Geetanjali Kirloskar, chairperson and MD, Kirloskar Systems and chairperson, Toyota Tsusho Insurance Broker India, said, India has a relatively stable economy, which represented huge growth potential for Japanese companies to set up a very strong, competitive manufacturing supply chain.
“There is a huge potential for the two countries to develop lighthouse projects in industries which present the potential for collaboration such as the chemical industry, which is a multi-billion-dollar opportunity,” he suggested.
According to her, the defence and aero industry, which was looking to indigenise sub-assemblies with newer and more autonomous manufacturing processes, is another big opportunity.
The BCIC has set up an office in Japan with a three-pronged strategy to promote Karnataka as an investment destination, take a delegation of industrialists from Karnataka to Japan and host a delegation of industrialists from Japan to Karnataka, said L. Ravindran, president, BCIC.
