Pune: Baba Kalyani, Chairman & Managing Director of Bharat Forge Ltd., co-chaired the 12th edition of the India-Japan Business Leaders Forum, held in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Japan Shigeru Ishiba.
The Forum, meeting after a gap of seven years, underlined key areas for enhanced bilateral cooperation including green energy, electric mobility, space technology, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, digital technology, data centres, healthcare, and electronics.
In his address, Mr. Kalyani emphasized the strategic importance of the India-Japan partnership, describing it as a resilient and vital force for global economic security and sustainable growth, particularly against the backdrop of ongoing trade uncertainties. Mr. Kalyani highlighted several medium-term focus areas to further strengthen the partnership.
He stressed the need to build greater resilience in global value chains by leveraging India and Japan’s complementary strengths, while also welcoming increased Japanese investments in India across banking, financial services, and the establishment of global capability centres. He underlined the importance of co-creating and co-developing solutions for Society 5.0, the vision of a technology-driven, human-centered society. He also called for the creation of joint standard-setting bodies to drive mutual recognition agreements across sectors, and emphasized the significance of skill mobility and human exchange, noting India’s demographic advantage in providing a young and skilled workforce to support Japan’s evolving needs.
Mr. Kalyani and Mr. Tsutsui-san, Chairman of Keidanren, collectively submitted the Joint Forum Report to the Prime Ministers. The report outlines recommendations and opportunities to take the India-Japan partnership to the next level.
