<p>India on Friday said Japan is a “natural partner” in achieving the goal of increasing the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25% in the coming years. Both the countries discussed ways of increasing bilateral trade and investments during a day-long conference in Nagoya, Japan.<br /><br />A business delegation led by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman participated in that event. “India wants to increase the contribution of manufacturing sector to GDP to 25% and Japan is a natural partner in our goals,” an official statement quoting Nirmala said here.<br /><br />Currently, the manufacturing sector contributes about 17% to the country’s GDP. The government is taking steps such as improving ease of doing business and relaxing FDI norms to boost the sector.<br /><br />Nirmala also met Governor of Aichi Prefecture Hideaki Ohmura in Nagoya. Hideaki acknowledged that the India Conference will further encourage the companies in Aichi Prefecture to invest in India.<br /><br />Japan said that although it is the third largest foreign investor in India ($25.2 billion during April 2000-December 2016), behind Mauritius and Singapore, it can be considered a top investor as the other two countries are used by companies from across the world to route investments.<br /><br />Nirmala urged Ohmura to consider diversification of investment in other sectors such as food processing, textiles, medical equipment, electronics and IT in India. The minister invited him to lead a delegation of Japanese companies to MSME clusters in India to explore partnership and investment opportunities.<br /></p>
<p>India on Friday said Japan is a “natural partner” in achieving the goal of increasing the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25% in the coming years. Both the countries discussed ways of increasing bilateral trade and investments during a day-long conference in Nagoya, Japan.<br /><br />A business delegation led by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman participated in that event. “India wants to increase the contribution of manufacturing sector to GDP to 25% and Japan is a natural partner in our goals,” an official statement quoting Nirmala said here.<br /><br />Currently, the manufacturing sector contributes about 17% to the country’s GDP. The government is taking steps such as improving ease of doing business and relaxing FDI norms to boost the sector.<br /><br />Nirmala also met Governor of Aichi Prefecture Hideaki Ohmura in Nagoya. Hideaki acknowledged that the India Conference will further encourage the companies in Aichi Prefecture to invest in India.<br /><br />Japan said that although it is the third largest foreign investor in India ($25.2 billion during April 2000-December 2016), behind Mauritius and Singapore, it can be considered a top investor as the other two countries are used by companies from across the world to route investments.<br /><br />Nirmala urged Ohmura to consider diversification of investment in other sectors such as food processing, textiles, medical equipment, electronics and IT in India. The minister invited him to lead a delegation of Japanese companies to MSME clusters in India to explore partnership and investment opportunities.<br /></p>