On Monday, the Indo-Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IJCCI) hosted a reception for the newly appointed Consul General of Japan in Chennai, Mr. Takahashi Muneo and his spouse Ms. Takahashi.
“I have operated in 8 countries across Asia and the Middle East. However this will be my first assignment in India. And I’m looking forward to working in Chennai as we move ahead with our relationship between Japan and India,” said Mr. Muneo.
“On the part of our country, this year is important for a number of reasons: it is an important year for Japan-India Special Strategic Global Partnership. Today’s cooperation should be continued to ensure deepening bilateral economic relations in economy sphere with new areas like green transformation and development of business investment environment,” he said. “The increasing trend in Japanese companies that operate from Chennai or other parts of southern India is likely to continue,” added Mr. Muneo.
Mr.Muneo noted that, “Number of Japanese visas issued last year was less than 30 000 while around 600 were given back in 2021; therefore, we can expect further economic and human exchange expansion between south India region and Japan.”
Mr.Takahashi was welcomed by N.Kumar Vice chairman Sanmar Group & Chairman IJCCI who mentioned that Govt.’s on both side have always shared a very strong bond which has grown much stronger over time.
Of late many Japanese investments especially towards S.india also several companies from japan have come to india itself but During this growth path IJCCI would like to assist linking people relationships between two countries” This era of growth calls upon IJCCI to build people-to-people contacts alongside business-to-business connections between these two states, he added
Speaking about Mr.Muneo’s appointment, N.Ravi Director Kasturi & Sons Limited observed: “He comes here after a long and distinguished experience in Japanese foreign service. The Indo-Japan cultural relationship had its first ties dating back to the 8th century. In the second phase of Indo-Japan relations, Japan made direct investments in India and provided development assistance to it. Today, there are around 1500 Japanese companies, nearly 5000 business establishments having their presence in India. BILATERAL TRADE between the two countries is more than $50 billion” Speaking at that moment Ravi also observed that Chennai has a good number of Japanese companies and it is home to one of the largest Japanese communities.
IJCCI President T.P.Imbichammad also spoke.
