Japan to nominate two of its government officials to special PMO team

NEW DELHI: Japan will nominate two of its government officials to the special management team being set up under the Prime Minister’s Office to work closely with their Indian counterparts and facilitate its proposed investments in the country, a senior official familiar with the matter said.

Within days of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement in Tokyo that the team would be set up and two nominees would be included, the commerce and industry ministry has written to Japan’s ministry of economy, trade and Industry or METI to nominate the two officials, the person cited earlier said.

METI is expected to respond soon to fast-track investment proposals from Japan, the official said, adding that the commerce and industry ministry will closely work with the PMO as part of the special management team.

“It is not about just the $35 billion that Japan will provide to boost India’s infrastructure; there is an overall enthusiasm in Japan to invest in India and support Indian economy.

This was visible throughout the PM’s trip,” another official said. Modi’s announcement of setting up of the special management team came after the mechanism in the PMO to assist investments from Japan during the tenure of the previous UPA government did not yield desired results in the past few years.

TKA Nair, principal secretary to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and later his adviser, was the point person for facilitating Japanese investments in India since 2006. However, this mechanism did not yield results. Subsequently, in the initial days of the Modi-led NDA government, the Japanese government found it difficult to move their proposals and suggestions in the absence of a point person in the PMO, sources revealed.