As foreign capital continues to withdraw from the Indian market, New Delhi is intensifying its efforts to promote its 'growth story' overseas. This time, India has turned its attention to Japan.
According to Bloomberg's report on August 26, Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is visiting Japan for a four-day trip, bringing along a business delegation of about 200 people. This is the largest business delegation India has sent to Japan so far. Goyal has called on Japanese companies to increase their investment in India and double the size of their businesses there.
This trip to India focuses on sectors such as manufacturing, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, clean energy, steel, automobiles, financial services, healthcare, and startups. Goyar strongly promoted India's business environment in Tokyo, stating that India "encourages entrepreneurship," that the intellectual property and data of companies can be protected, and claiming that India might be one of the best destinations for investors where data "will never be stolen."
India is also trying to persuade Japanese companies to use India as a production and export base for global markets. Gojal said that in recent years, India has been expanding its network of free trade agreements, hoping to attract Japanese companies to set up manufacturing industries in the country through preferential market access.
India's high-level investment promotion trip to Japan is driven by increasing pressure to attract foreign investment. According to Bloomberg, although India continues to emphasize its rapid economic growth, investors are increasingly worried about whether this growth trend will continue. Issues such as India’s ease of doing business have also been a long-time concern.
This concern has been reflected in the capital market. A survey of fund managers conducted by a US bank in August showed that India has overtaken Indonesia as the least favored stock market in Asia. 32% of respondents expressed negative opinions about Indian stocks. India’s stock market has also been one of the worst-performing markets globally this year.
Meanwhile, several senior officials from the Indian government are conducting intensive business trips abroad. In addition to Nirmala Sitharaman leading a delegation to Japan, India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also has a nine-day visit to Canada and the United States, focusing on promoting trade, investment, and economic relations.
