Japan's imports from India up 21.5% in last fiscal

Japan's imports from India jumped 21.5 percent to ¥54 billion in the financial year that ended on March 31, Mitsuo Kawaguchi, Consul General of Japan, said in Kolkata recently.

The Indian engineering industry appears poised for better access to the Japanese market and more Japanese companies are willing to set up joint ventures with their Indian counterparts, he said.

Kawaguchi, speaking at an interaction with EEPC India members in Kolkata, said after the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) last year that there has been a visible change in the two-way trade.

Under the CEPA, Japan eliminated tariffs on 87 percent of its tariff lines. Over the next decade, it would remove import tariffs in a phased manner on nearly 97 per cent of the tariff lines.

Industrial and automotive components form a substantial part of the exports to Japan.

“Japan is looking for outsourcing opportunity in India,” he said,m adding that Japanese companies are also keen to set up manufacturing bases in India.