Indo-Japan bilateral trade is set for further growth with increased focus on areas such as agriculture, food processing and bio-technology, according to Masaki Takaoka, deputy mayor of Miyoshi City.

Indo-Japan bilateral trade reached $ 18.61 billion last fiscal against $18.43 billion in the previous year, he said at a seminar on ‘Business Opportunities in Agriculture in Japan’, organised by the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chamber of Commerce ad Industries here today.

Exports

India’s exports to Japan were $6.1 billion and imports from Japan were $12.51 billion, he said, adding that India’s primary exports to Japan were petroleum products, iron ore, gems and jewellery, marine products, oil meals, ferroalloys and inorganic/organic chemicals.

India’s primary imports from Japan have been machinery, transport equipment, iron and steel, electronic goods, organic chemicals and machine tools.

“Japanese FDI into India has increased to $2,786 million in 2012, showing an increase of 19.8 per cent over the previous year,” he pointed out.

Takaoka said: “Japan is the largest bilateral donor to India. Japanese Official Development Assistance has been supporting India’s efforts for accelerated economic development particularly in the infrastructure sector. Cumulative commitment of ODA till March 2013 reached ¥3807.763 billion on commitment basis.”

The Japanese delegation included Katsuaki Hirata, Chairman and Director of Hirata Farm, Rama Bhadra, President, ASA Bhanu Japan Centre, Tsuyoshi Uesugi, Advisor of Miyoshi International Relations Association, Takayoshi Takehara, Deputy Chairman, Miyoshi City Council, Hiroyuki Kohmura, Associate Professor, Faculty of Life and Environmental Science, Hiroshima Prefectural University, Toshihiro Tominoi, Executive Director, Japan Agricultural Cooperative and Kosho Toyoshima Manager, Industrial Development Department, Miyoshi city.

>amit.mitra@thehindu.co.in

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