CII to lead a business delegation to Japan

NEW DELHI: Industry chamber CII is leading a business delegation to Tokyo to participate in India-Japan Business Leaders Forum, to be held on May 29.

CII Past President Baba Kalyani, who is also the Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Forge, will head the delegation which includes CII President S Gopalakrishnan, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Vice-Chairman Vikram Kirloskar and DMICDC MD and CEO Amitabh Kant, the chamber said in a statement.

"The key areas of discussion of the forum comprising leading industry members from both countries will be on India-Japan Free Trade Agreement and regional economic alliances; improving the business environment and market access; infrastructure development in India and promotion of Japan-India cooperation," it said.

Besides, the forum would deliberate on issues such as strengthening Indian and Japanese cooperation in strategic areas like energy (including nuclear), automobiles, machinery, chemical industry, cutting-edge technologies and heavy industries, it added.

After the meeting of the Forum, a joint statement is expected to be presented to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the statement said.

Singh today left on a three-day visit to Tokyo. During 2011-12, the bilateral trade between India and Japan stood at USD 13.7 billion. The two countries had set a target of doubling bilateral trade to USD 25 billion by 2014.