Very clear to Japan

[Guest guest]

Very clear to Japan

 

The "puzzle it out" session between Prime Minister Vajpayee and

Japanese businessmen has turned out to be a no-puzzle

exercise for the hosts.

 

It is said that when a Japanese runs away or when a Japanese

businessman does not invest, there are specific reasons. As

always, the Japanese business mind is clear. Arun Shourie's

regretful confession that several things are yet to be sorted out to

attract Japanese businessmen was ignored as irrelevant.

 

At negotiations, the Japanese are seemingly very polite and very

serious. That is why they did not tell Shourie that he must go

back to India and set infrastructural difficulties right and change

the mind-set of the Indian bureaucracy (especially the top ones:

Shourie came as far as admitting that the lower bureaucracy has

been remiss) before trying to attract Japanese investment to

India.

 

The Japanese have been more polite to the Prime Minister when

he described the ancient and harmonious religious-cultural

relations between the two countries and yet Japanese

investment has not been picking up.

 

The obvious answer from the Japanese would be that

investment decisions are not taken on the basis of past religious

relations. Instead of the usual agreeable, say-nothing

nail-watching on the part of the Japanese, they listed a number

of reasons why Japan thinks twice before planning to go to India.

In spite of the latent disharmony and the mutual suspicion

between Japan and China, Japanese investment in China has

been growing robustly. Low-wage attraction is only a minor

reason (which is also applicable to India).

 

Poor interaction at the popular level, according to Japanese

businessmen, troubles them a lot. This means that the lower

middle

 

 

 

 

class and the working class do not understand the significance

of investment and at the slightest provocation, go on strike,

disrupting production for months together which is unknown in

Japan.

 

About three million Japanese go to China as tourists every year

against about a lakh that choose to go to India. There are eight

Boeing flights from Japan to China daily, whereas there is not a

single direct flight nor a daily flight between India and Japan.

More than all this, Japanese industrialists are tired of dealing

with Indian bureaucrats, not to say anything of poor

communication and disastrous transport facilities in India.

 

Perhaps there can be an increase in Overseas Development

Assistance (ODA) funds earmarked for India from next year

which was suspended in the wake of Pokhran experiments.

Japan complains that Indian software, which Japan fancies, is

focused on the west. Japanese industrialists know only too well

about Indian pronouncements about one-window clearance

which is still one of the windows once in six months.

 

The Japanese make it clear that they are not going to India for

health reasons. Look at the manner in which they buy our coal.

After finalising two-thirds of their requirements from Brazil and

Australia, they meet Indian coal exporters and successfully talk

them out of any price parity by mentioning Brazil and Australia,

although the benefit of shipping distance is in India's favour.

 

Without bringing out a distinct improvement in infrastructure and

a sea change in the mind-set of Indian bureaucracy, it is

irrational to expect large-scale Japanese investment in this

country. Many have been the meetings of the Indo-Japanese

business council, visits by important ministers and hordes of

Indian businessmen to Japan. There have been plans, paper

agreements and invitations for more meetings. No concrete

results. One hopes it may be different this time.