“The north-eastern region of India has immense potential and with the kind of priority being given to the region by the Government of India and the Government of Japan looks forward to engaging itself as a partner at different levels, both financially and otherwise,” Kenji Hiramatsu, Ambassador of Japan to India, said after a long meeting with India’s Minister for the Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Jitendra Singh. According to Hiramatsu, the preferred states which the Government of Japan looks forward to investing in the northeast are Assam, followed by Manipur and Nagaland.
Japan is expected to fund roads, bridges and developing inland waterways in the region. “Japanese partnership could also be utilized in the recent initiative of developing inland waterways transport along river Brahmaputra down to the Bay of Bengal as well as supplementing the venture fund announced by DoNER Ministry for start-ups in the northeast,” Jitendra Singh said.
Japan’s foreign direct investment in India was more than $4.2 billion in the first half of the last fiscal year, compared to $2.6 billion in the previous fiscal year. The official development assistance from Japan to India amounted to $3.4 billion in the last fiscal year.
