Meti: Review Meeting for Economic Relations including Japan Industrial Townships (JITs) in Tamil Nadu, India

On April 29, 2022, the Review Meeting for Economic Relations including Japan Industrial Townships (JITs) in Tamil Nadu, India, was jointly held in Chennai by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Industries Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu under the India-Japan Industrial Competitiveness Partnership.

1. Overview of the Meeting
On April 29, 2022, the Review Meeting for Economic Relations including Japan Industrial Townships (JITs) in Tamil Nadu, India, was jointly held in Chennai by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the Government of Japan, headed by Deputy Director General Dr. Hattori Takashi and the Industries Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu chaired by Additional Chief Secretary Mr. S. Krishnan, under the India-Japan Industrial Competitiveness Partnership (IJICP) between METI and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the Government of India.

Dr. Hattori and Mr. Krishnan have discussed a wide range of economic activities by Japan in Tamil Nadu and reaffirmed their intention to further promote three JITs in Chennai to attract further investment and enhance industrial competitiveness of Tamil Nadu. They have also reviewed the activities of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Tamil Nadu.

The meeting was successfully concluded by each member expressing their willingness to regularly monitor and follow-up on economic activities including JITs between Japan and Tamil Nadu.

2. Overview of the Japan Industrial Townships
In September 2014, Mr. Abe Shinzo, then-Prime Minister of Japan, and H.E. Mr. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, announced the “Japan-India Investment Promotion Partnership”. As part of this partnership agreement, Japan decided to develop the JITs, an industrial zone in which Japanese companies are able to smoothly start and develop business in India.

Among 12 JITs across India, three are located in Tamil Nadu; i) OneHub Chennai, ii) ORIGINS, Chennai, iii) Sojitz Motherson.