National Council of Applied Economic Research
Dr Shekhar Shah, Director General, NCAER and Mr Daikichi Momma, President, PRI signed a three-year Memorandum of Intent for joint work and greater collaboration between the two institutions at a ceremony held at PRI on January 21, 2015. Also present on the occasion were Mr Amit Kumar, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India, Mr Osamu Tanaka, Executive Vice President, PRI, Mr Nobuyuki Uda, Director-General, Research, PRI and other senior PRI staff.
The larger purpose of the MOI is to promote and deepen economic relations between Japan andIndia. The Special Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan expects a 3.5 trillion yen jump in investment financing from public and private sources and a doubling of the number of Japanese companies in India within the next five years. The Japanese Foreign Minister Mr Fumio Kishida, who was in New Delhi earlier in the week, had said in his public Policy Speech on January 18th that “Under ‘Abenomics’, the Government of Japan supports the overseas advancement of Japanese enterprises, while India has been strengthening its manufacturing industry by attracting investment under ‘Modinomics’…. Japan will contribute to the “Make in India” initiative led by Prime Minister Modi so as to support India in becoming a base of economic growth for the Indo-Pacific region, and ultimately of the world.”
The MOI aims at analysing opportunities for enhancing economic relations between Japan and India focusing on the investment climate and exploring domestic economic policies and their implementation for Japan and India. NCAER and PRI will promote joint research activities in these areas, facilitate exchange of researchers, and cooperate to organise research conferences on issues of common interest in Japan and in India.
The MOI signing ceremony was followed by an India Workshop at PRI at which Shekhar Shah spoke on “Modinomics meets Abenomics: Will Japan Make More in India.” The lecture was moderated by Professor Shujiro Urata, Professor, Waseda University, Tokyo, and attended by some 35 participants. These included experts from the Japanese Government, research institutes, think-tanks, academia, and the press. After his talk, there was a lively and engaged Q&A with the participants.
This PRI India workshop in Tokyo will be followed by the first of an annual series of Delhi Dialogues in New Delhi on February 6, 2015.
