New Delhi, March 4 (IANS) India has highlighted the potential for growth in exports to Japan in sectors such as textiles, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and services, at a high-level meeting in Tokyo, for achieving a more balanced bilateral trade relationship, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday.
During the 7th Joint Committee meeting under the India–Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) held this week, both sides reviewed issues relating to the implementation of the agreement and deliberated on ways to further strengthen bilateral economic engagement.
The meeting was co-chaired by Secretary, Department of Commerce, Rajesh Agrawal, Government of India, and the Senior Deputy Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Japan.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Agrawal, met the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
Discussions covered a wide range of issues, including bilateral trade and investment, improving the business environment, and the upcoming 14th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
During the meeting with the METI Vice Minister, Agrawal highlighted the shared vision articulated by the leaders of both countries during the annual summit in August 2025 and underscored the need to enhance and diversify bilateral trade and investment.
He emphasized the strong complementarities between the two economies — Japan’s strengths in technology, capital, and advanced manufacturing, and India’s skilled workforce, large market, and rapidly growing economy.
He also stressed the importance of harnessing the full benefits of the CEPA, including the movement of natural persons as envisaged during the leaders’ summit.
The Commerce Secretary further engaged with leading representatives of the Japanese industry during a roundtable interaction. In the evening, a Trade and Investment Roadshow was organized by the Embassy of India in Japan in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Keidanren, focussing on promoting trade from India and facilitating greater investment flows from Japanese companies.
Agrawal apprised participants of India’s conducive policy environment for trade and investment, including ongoing measures to improve ease of doing business and simplified regulatory processes.
He emphasized that the CEPA provides a stable framework ensuring tariff certainty and regulatory predictability, thereby fostering a facilitative environment for deeper collaboration between India and Japan as trusted partners in global value and supply chains.
–IANS
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