New Delhi: Anurag Jain, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, on Friday while inviting more Japanese companies to invest in India said that India is a very vibrant democracy and the structural and governance reforms brought in by the government are transformational. “This has further improved the Ease of Doing Business,” he added.

Addressing the 46th Joint Meeting of the India-Japan Business Cooperation Meeting (IJBCC)  organized by FICCI jointly with JIBCC, Jain stated that the government has come out with a National Single Window System which will be very transformational.

“We have brought 27 government departments and 19 states on this Single Window platform. By December 2023, all 36 States and UTs along with all 32 departments of Govt of India will be on-board and all returns or approvals will be filed on one single platform. With leveraging technology, we are doing a collaborative exercise to bring the whole of government (including Central and State) on one single platform which will be transformational,” he added.

Jain also said that the kind of opportunities which exist in India today were never there. “The next 3 decades are going to be India’s growth story and if you (industry) your own growth, come and be part of India’s growth story,” he asserted.

Highlighting the merits of India’s public digital infrastructure, Jain said: “Today we see over 7 billion online real-time transactions in India which is more than China and the US and the whole of Europe. India follows the open network system.”

Jain further stated that with the launch of the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), the entry barriers for a new player will be reduced significantly. “The way UPI transferred the payment space in the world, the same way e-commerce space will be transformed by the ONDC which will be launched in another year or two,” he highlighted.

Hiroshi Suzuki, Ambassador of Japan to India, said that Japan and India should take the lead in securing peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region for the entire world as both nations share the same values. He further stated that there is a need to increase the number of Japanese companies investing in India as there are emerging opportunities in various sectors.

Onkar S Kanwar, Chairman, IJBCC and Chairman, Apollo Tyres Limited, said that India with the support of Japan has an opportunity to become the next hub of global manufacturing value chains. “While economic relations between India and Japan have strengthened in recent years, the two strategic partners need to capitalize on their foundational partnership and approach towards a more sustainable economic integration. Japanese entities should consider expanding their investment by tapping into the emerging sectors like Renewable Energy, FinTech, and digital technology, as a step further towards gaining economic prosperity,” he added.

Tatsuo Yasunaga, Chairman, Japan-India Business Cooperation Committee and Representative Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mitsui & Co. Ltd said, “Japanese companies are focusing on decarbonized society in India. We should work towards creating an environment where we can do business with confidence with each other.” He further stated that both India and Japan need to provide leadership for the world economy as they assume the presidency of G20 and G7 respectively.