The Hindu : Business : Efforts to bring together SMEs of India, Japan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Nov 13, 2004

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Business

Efforts to bring together SMEs of India, Japan

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, NOV. 12. With the conversion of Indo-Japan Centre here into Indo-Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IJCCI), the organisation, in its new avatar, has decided to play a facilitator role in bringing together the SMEs (small and medium enterprises) of the two countries.

N. Krishnaswami, Secretary-General, said that the IJCCI would interact with assorted chambers in Japan to establish contacts with SMEs in that country and understand their requirements. Simultaneously, the Chamber had also set up a screening panel comprising experts drawn from varied fields to vet proposals from the local SMEs, who wished to collaborate with the Japanese firms.

Mr. Krishnaswami said possibilities for co-operation between the SMEs of the two countries existed in IT (information technology), auto components, IT hardware, biotechnology, food processing, textiles and leather. Unlike bigger companies, who could fend for themselves, the SMEs needed help to find the right match. Hence, the Chamber had decided to train its eyes on SMEs, he added.

The Secretary-General said that the Chamber would again look at the possibility of establishing a model Japanese township in India. Though the concept had found a taker some years ago when the then Haryana Government reacted favourably, it did not see its logical end for varied reasons. Efforts were on to revive interest in this concept, he added.

Mr. Krishnaswami said culturally the south Indian and Japanese entrepreneurs were on the same wavelength. Hence, the endeavour of the industry here should be to understand the Japanese culture and language. As the IJCCI had come into being only on March 31, 2004 following conversion of the earlier trust, Mr. Krishnaswami said the immediate focus of the Chamber would be to consolidate its activities in the South.

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