New Delhi, Dec 28 (IANS) India and Japan Wednesday set a target to increase bilateral trade to $25 billion by 2014 and increase investments and economic cooperation.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who is on an official visit here, said India and Japan enjoyed warm diplomatic relations and the two countries should further step up business and economic cooperation.
‘We should capitalise on our complementarities,’ Noda said while addressing a business meeting here.
He said India and Japan were stepping up cooperation in various areas including nuclear cooperation and economic partnership.
Addressing the meeting, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said the two countries aimed to increase bilateral trade to $25 billion by 2014 from around $14 billion in the last fiscal.
‘We have set a target to increase bilateral trade to $25 billion by 2014 and I feel that we are very much on course to achieve it,’ Sharma said.
Accompanied by senior officials and heads of leading Japanese companies, Noda is on a two-day official visit to India.
Sharma, who is also the minister of textiles, urged Japanese businessmen to increase their engagement in India through joint ventures and partnerships.
The minister also urged the Japanese authorities to allow greater market access to Indian pharmaceutical companies in Japan. ‘Indian industries can make a major contribution to Japan’s healthcare programmes,’ said Sharma.
Lauding Japan’s help for the proposed Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, the minister said the minimum investment in the corridor was likely to be $100 billion.
He said Japanese firms had committed over $4.5 billion for the project while Indian government committed $4 billion investment.
