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India offers red carpet, not red tape, Modi hard sells India
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SME Times News Bureau | 03 Sep, 2014
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday hard sold India to Japanese
investors saying that his country offers only a red carpet and not red
tape while dubbing his five-day trip to Japan that ends Wednesday as
“very successful”.
"I've come to assure you there is no red tape
but only red carpet that awaits you in India," he said while delivering
the keynote address in a seminar at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, co-hosted
by Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro).
Modi said India
was also the only place where the Japanese industry would pleasantly
find all the three 'Ds' - democracy, demography and demand.
"I
have come here to assure you that if you have to look anywhere outside
Japan, you do not need to look here or there," he said, adding: "We
particularly want to encourage and invite small and medium enterprises,
as also small-scale industries."
The prime minister said India
now has a government that is working on development and wants to step up
manufacturing. He said he wished for India what he himself experienced
when he was young when he did not have to think twice if a product said
"Made in Japan".
According to the organisers, as many as 4,000
people had evinced interest in attending the event at a venue that could
accommodate only 2,000.
Later, speaking at a reception hosted
by the Japan-India Association and the Japan-India Parliamentary
Friendship League, the prime minister said India and Japan were now
working as "special strategic and global" partners.
Modi
suggested expanding links between people's representatives by creating a
Young Parliamentary Association and a Women's Parliamentary
Association.
"If we have a Young Parliamentary Association, it
can represent the thought and ideology of the new generation. There can
also be an arrangement for the women parliamentary members of the two
countries to meet and share ideas," he said.
The prime minister
said there was an unwritten spiritual connection between the two
countries, adding that there was growing interest among the Japanese to
learn Hindi and yoga.
In the evening, while inaugurating a
Vivekananda Cultural Centre in the Japanese capital, he told the India
community that had gathered for the event that India and Japan's
friendship would determine the course of the 21st century.
"There
is no doubt that the 21st century belongs to Asia. But India and
Japan's friendship will determine how it will actually look like," Modi
said.
"The state and direction of the 21st century will depend on
the direction in which Japan and India try to take the world," he said.
There are around 23,000 Indians in Japan.
Terming his Japan visit as "very successful", Modi said it was for the first time that the word trillion was in news.
"So
far we would hear only about millions and billions. Now we are hearing
about trillions," Modi said, hinting at Japan's offer of investment of
3.5 trillion yen (Rs.2.03 trillion) to India in the next five years.
Modi
started the penultimate day of his five-day trip to Japan by visiting
the University of the Sacred Heart where he said that India was
committed to peace and this commitment has "significance far above any
international treaties or processes".
"Commitment to peace and
non-violence is ingrained in the DNA of the Indian society... This
commitment to peace that was intrinsic to Indian society, has
significance far above any international treaties or processes," Modi
said while responding to a question on how India could enhance the
confidence of the international community as a non-NPT
(Non-Proliferation Treaty) state.
Another highlight of Modi's
programme Tuesday was when he called on Japanese Emperor Akihito during
which he gave the latter a copy of the Gita.
Modi also kicked off
a new initiative on training for Japanese youth started by Tata
Consultancy Services (TCS) at its various facilities in India, asking
them to return to Japan as India's ambassadors.
“You are going as
employees of TCS. But I want you to come back to Japan as ambassadors
of India,” Modi told the first batch of 48 trainees who will proceed to
India to undergo training for six-eight weeks at various TCS offices.
Modi
arrived in Kyoto Saturday on the first leg of his Japan visit. Japanese
Prime Minister Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came down to Japan's former
capital to personally receive his Indian counterpart.
The two
leaders Sunday signed the Tokyo Declaration in which the two sides
pledged to advance peace, stability and prosperity in Asia and the
world, and elevate the India-Japan relationship to a special strategic
and global partnership.
Modi will leave for India Wednesday.
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Customs Exchange Rates |
Currency |
Import |
Export |
US Dollar
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66.20
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64.50 |
UK Pound
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87.50
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84.65 |
Euro
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78.25
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75.65 |
Japanese
Yen |
58.85 |
56.85 |
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