India will be leader in attracting FDI in another 10 yrs: Japanese economist

CHENNAI: Having already witnessed a "substantial increase" in Foreign Direct Investment over the years, India will become the leading destination for FDI in another 10 years, overtaking China, a top Japanese economist said here today.

Professor Shujiro Urata of Waseda University said though India was trailing behind China in terms of attracting FDI, it was fast catching up with its neighbour and with "quite substantial investments over the years, will be No. 1 in the next 10 years."

In his presentation on 'Regional Economic Integration in East Asia and Japan-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement', Urata compared the economic growth rates of China, India, Indonesia and Japan with the rest of the world and said China's growth rate was "amazing", while India has been "catching up very fast" since 1991.

In contrast, Japan was "suffering from a low economic growth rate".

Urata said, "Indian policymakers have to deal with the increasing population, especially population without education, otherwise it will become a burden on the economy."

Observing patterns in Indian imports, he said India had become more dependent on procuring parts and components.

He also hoped to see more Indian students in Japan, while many Japanese companies were looking to invest in India.

The special lecture was organised by the Consulate-General of Japan at Chennai and the Indo-Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It was attended by Japanese Consul-General Masanori Nakano and B S Raghavan, the Chancellor of the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India University, Jharkhand.