India-Japan to cement 60-year-old ties with series of events

Chennai:

Sixty years after India inked the peace treaty with Japan, the ties between two countries has slowly strengthened in every field and Indo-Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IJCCI) plans to organize several events to further boost the bilateral relations this year, according to president of IJCCI Prof N Krishnaswami.

Speaking on the event to commemorate 60^th anniversary of India-Japan diplomatic relations, which was attended by consul general of Japan Masanori Nakano and his wife Keiko Nakano, Prof Krishnaswami highlighted how the ties between the countries grew and Tamil Nadu becoming an important investment destination for Japanese in recent days.

“IJCCI through its various programmes hopes to bring closer the Japanese and Indians, particularly those residing in Tamil Nadu facilitating greater interaction and cooperation to the mutual benefit of both the people,” he said.

The growing ties between Japan and Chennai could be seen by the fact that there are 240 Japanese companies and 60 representative offices of Japanese companies in the State. And Consul general of Japan Nakano feels there is a need to expand ties in the field of art, social and cultural exchanges.

Interestingly, IJCCI is planning big this year by organizing the All India small and medium enterprises (SME) convention in Chennai in December, which is part of the 24 programmes organized to cement the ties between the two Asian nations.

Krishnaswami said IJCCI is planning to invite Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to inaugurate the event. “The idea to host the conclave in Chennai came from none other than the Indian consul general in Osaka,” said Krishnaswami.

P Murari, advisor to president of Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry walked down the memory lane and stressed the need for Japanese investments in green technology, renewable technology and automobile parts. “There is an immense possibility of investment by Japanese companies in infrastructure projects,” he said.

Earlier Kieko Nakano lighted the traditional lamp to mark the inauguration of the function. Suguna Ramamoorthy, secretary general of IJCCI and Kandaswamy Bharatan, director of IJCCI also spoke on the occasion.