Will Indian Startups Get a Gift From Japan?

The Indian startup community is looking forward to announcements to be made by visiting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on ways to boost bilateral trade and investment ties between India and Japan. 

The Japanese PM has arrived in New Delhi today to explore ways to boost bilateral ties in the range of areas including trade & investment, high technologies, defence and security. 

Why are Indian startups thrilled about Kishida’s visit?

Indian startups are thrilled by the visit of the Japanese Prime Minister because in recent times, Japanese companies have displayed a keen interest in investing in the startup sector. 

Following a subdued year in 2022, many Japanese behemoths are devising plans to partner with Indian startups.

Japanese Companies keen to invest in Indian startups

Well-known Japanese corporations such as Suzuki, Toshiba, Toyota, and Denso, among others, have already initiated collaborations with Indian startups in various areas, including health-tech, digital infrastructure, and renewable energy.

Toyota Tsusho, a subsidiary of the Toyota Group, has already invested in Droom Technology, India’s largest new and used car marketplace, and Super Highway Lab, a medium to long distance bus app. 

The company covers a wide range of businesses from used car sales to recycling. Tokyo based Sojitz Corporation too invested in Intelligent Retail. 

Japanese PM arrives in New Delhi: What’s on agenda?

During his visit, Kishida and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also discuss priorities for India’s presidency of G20 Summit and Japan’s Presidency of the G7.

The Japanese prime minister's visit is expected to last around 27 hours.

He is expected to unveil his 'Free and Open Indo-Pacific Plan for Peace' during a lecture at a leading think-tank in the afternoon.

Japan has been pushing for a free and open Indo-Pacific with a view to maintaining and strengthening the rules-based international order in the region.

India and Japan share 'Special Strategic and Global Partnership'. India-Japan relations were elevated to 'Global Partnership' in 2000, 'Strategic and Global Partnership' in 2006, and 'Special Strategic and Global Partnership' in 2014.

Japan's bilateral trade with India totalled USD 20.57 billion during FY 2021-22. Exports from Japan to India during this period were USD 14.39 billion and imports were USD 6.18 billion. Japan's exports to India were 2.35% of India's total imports and India's exports to Japan were 1.46% of India's total exports.

India and Japan took several initiatives to boost the startup ecosystem in both the countries. The Ministry of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Jetro signed a partnership agreement in 2020 to strengthen the Indian & Japanese to support Japanese tech-startups in India by providing a soft-landing sector-specific tech. 

Japan-India jointly came up with a startup hub in 2018 to enable collaborations between startups, investors, incubators, & aspiring entrepreneurs of both countries and provide them requisite resources for market entry & global expansion.