JAPAN: INVESTORS SET TO GO BULLISH ON INDIA

NEW DELHI, Dic 31 (IPS) - INDIA'S ECONOMIC MANAGERS, WORRIED BY CONTINUING LOW JAPANESE INVESTOR INTEREST IN THE COUNTRY DESPITE THREE YEARS OF FREE MARKET REFORMS, MAY DO WELL TO FAVOUR JAPANESE RESTAURANTS AND FREE FOOD IMPORTS.

LACK OF JAPANESE CUISINE IS ONE REASON WHY INDIA IS NOT POPULAR WITH BUSINESS INVESTORS FROM JAPAN DESPITE THEIR ATTRACTION TO ECONOMIC CHANGES IN THE SOUTH ASIAN NATION.

ANSWERING A QUIZ, A TEAM OF LEADING JAPANESE BUSINESSMEN IN INDIA EARLY THIS MONTH, SAID CULTURAL DIFFERENCES, INDIA'S POOR ENERGY SUPPLY, TELECOM AND TRANSPORT WERE OBSTACLES TO JAPANESE INVESTMENT.

BUT MOST MEMBERS OF THE DELEGATION FROM THE KANSAI ECONOMIC FEDERATION (KANIEREN) WERE IMPRESSED BY THE SIZE OF INDIA'S POTENTIAL CONSUMER MARKET AND THE STABILITY OF ITS POLITICAL DEMOCRACY.

THE QUIZ WAS CONDUCTED BY A LEADING INDIAN INDUSTRY CHAMBER TO FIND WHY JAPANESE BUSINESS IS STILL CAUTIOUS ABOUT INDIA WHICH OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS HAS RAPIDLY REMOVED CHECKS ON FOREIGN INVESTMENT.

SINCE AUGUST 1991, A MONTH AFTER INDIA THREW OPEN ITS ECONOMY TO FOREIGN INVESTORS, MORE THAN 2,000 JOINT VENTURES INVOLVING OVERSEAS FUNDS OF ABOUT FIVE BILLION DOLLARS HAVE BEEN CLEARED.

BUT JAPAN TRAILS AT SEVENTH SPOT AMONG THE RICH NATIONS WHICH HAVE RUSHED IN WITH OFFERS TO SET UP PRIVATE ENTERPRISES WITH INDIAN PARTNERS. THE UNITED STATES AND GERMANY ARE THE FIRST TWO, FOLLOWED BY BRITAIN, HONG KONG, RUSSIA AND SINGAPORE.

JAPAN INVESTED ONLY 83 MILLION DOLLARS IN 1993, DOWN FROM 1992. AND TILL MAY THIS YEAR, JAPANESE BUSINESS PUT UP A BARE 17 MILLION DOLLARS FOR INDIAN VENTURES.

"JAPANESE INVESTMENT INFLOW TO INDIA HAS BEEN SLOW LARGELY DUE TO A LACK OF AWARENESS AND SIGNIFICANT MISCONCEPTIONS PREVALENT IN THE MINDS OF THE JAPANESE," SAYS THE CONFEDERATION OF INDIAN INDUSTRY (CII) WHICH PREPARED THE QUESTIONNAIRE.

THE CII, AN APEX INDUSTRY CHAMBER, REPRESENTING MORE THAN 1,000 LEADING COMPANIES, HOWEVER, EXPECTS A FLOOD OF JAPANESE BUSINESS INVESTMENT NEXT YEAR.

THE OPTIMISM IS SHARED BY THE GOVERNMENT. OFFICIALS IN INDIA'S MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS SPEAK OF "A DEFINITE JAPANESE INTEREST IN INDIA."

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