PM invites Japanese to invest in India

Tokyo, Oct 22 (UNI) Asserting that the 21st century belongs to both India and Japan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today asked the leaders of Japanese business and industry to ''keep faith in India'' which would be more educated, more skilled, and would have far greater purchasing power in 2020 or 2040.

''New investors often worry about the difficulties that they may face in a new environment,'' he said addressing the captains of Indian and Japanese business and industry, while pointing out that the increase in India's bilateral trade with China in the past one year alone was more than the whole of India's total trade with Japan.

In this context, he said Korean products dominated India's white goods sector and have high brand recognition in his country.

Saying that a vibrant democracy often presented new challenges, Dr Singh urged them to have faith in Indian system and its resolve.

''We are committed to creating a congenial climate for private initiative, risk-taking and enterprise,'' he said.

The Prime Minister said India would be an engine of growth for the global economy, and invited the Japanese businessmen to be a partner in this journey.

''We wish to see Japan occupy a central role in our quest for sustainable development and poverty eradication,'' Dr Singh said.

More UNI SH AE CS1044