TN seeks Japan investment to boost infrastructure

Chennai:

Tamil Nadu government on Thursday wooed Japanese investors to invest in manufacturing, infrastructure, water treatment, renewable energy and minor port sectors.

Addressing a seminar on ‘Doing business with Tamil Nadu for the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) delegation from Japan’, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Japan Chamber of commerce and Industry (JCCI), Industry secretary Dr N Sundaradevan said Tamil Nadu was the most attractive investment destination for Japanese companies because of its inherent strengths like favourable investment climate, infrastructure facilities and supportive government policies.

He said the state is opening investment areas for the Japanese companies, especially the small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and the state government and Japan Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) have agreed on the promotion of new industrial parks in the State.

The investment areas include the exclusive Japanese industrial cluster planned to be set up near Chennai, the industrial township near Ennore Port, logistics park at Ennore and Sriperumbudur, the petrochemical and petroleum investment region between Cuddalore and Nagapattinam, the Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridor of excellence, desalination and waste water treatment and the setting up of 23 minor ports, the Industry secretary said.

Assuring Japanese investors that the bottlenecks in accessing Ennore Port area would be cleared at the earliest, Sundaradevan said state government wanted to make Tamil Nadu one of the five global automobile clusters in the world and aimed at becoming the number one. 

T T Ashok, chairman, CII Southern Region stressed on the need to focus investments on automobile and auto-components, IT and ITEs and biotechnology.  Ashok said Japan could consider investment in wind and solar power, and aerospace.

Tadashi Okamura, chairman, JCCI, said that JCCI and the state government would sign a memorandum of understanding to boost investment in SMEs.

Masanori Nakano, Consul-General, Consulate General of Japan in Chennai, said SMEs played a key role in the economic and industrial development of Japan and hoped JCCI delegation would facilitate relationship between SMEs of both Japan and India.

He said the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the governments of Japan and India, which came into force in August 2011, would boost Indo-Japan ties