BCIC, SMRJ Sign MoU to Support SMEs and Start-ups to Expand Global Businesses

Bangalore, October 18,2023: Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) has entered a MoU with The Organization for Small & Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation, Japan (“SMRJ”) to support enterprises in India and Japan to expand their businesses globally, exchange information on trade, investment policies and provide opportunities to support SMEs and start-ups in the two countries. The MoU, signed by T Kaneko, EVP, SMRJ and Dr. S Devarajan, President, BCIC covers all industries falling within the MSME category including manufacturing, industry, and services.

Speaking about the MoU, Dr. S Devarajan, President BCIC and Sr. Vice President, TVS Motor Company Ltd said, “This MoU is based on the projection that trade volumes between India and Japan will be about $41 billion by 2030 with Indian exports to Japan expected to be around $8 billion by 2030, from around $4 billion of last year. India’s import from Japan is expected to be around $33 billion by 2030, from around $17 billion last year. The objective of this MoU is therefore to support enterprises in India and Japan to expand global businesses, exchange information on trade, investment policies and opportunities to support MSMEs and start-ups in the two countries. We expect this tie-up to provide a fillip to increase the contribution of manufacturing to India’s GPD, quick adoption of emerging and futuristic technologies, and expansion for both Indian and Japanese companies to emerging markets in Middle East, Europe, and Africa."

Tomohiro Kaneko, Executive Vice President, SMRJ said “Through this MoU we will implement new initiatives to strengthen business matching support for SMEs and startups in both Japan and India to promote new product development and overseas expansion. As part of this MoU, we will be targeting companies in the Bengaluru region where startups and the aircraft industry is concentrated to promote new product development and overseas expansion. We will work together to set up business meetings between Japanese SMEs and Indian companies and startups to promote business. SMRJ plays an important role as the only public organization comprehensively implementing Japan’s SME policies, which are formulated by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry. SMEs account for 99.7% of the total number of companies in Japan. Similarly, there are a substantial number of micro, small and medium enterprises operating in India. This partnership with BCIC will explore business collaborations and support measures to expand the markets for SMEs both in India and Japan and to tap other overseas markets, with particular focus on utilizing our CEO Business Meetings and J-GoodTech business matching initiatives.”
 

T R Parasuraman, Founding President of BCIC JAPAN office, Mentor - BCIC Japan initiative and Executive Advisor, Toyota Group - External Affairs (State) said, “The collaboration with SMRJ is quite strategic, timely and impactful given the huge projected growth in the Indian manufacturing GDP from the current 17% to about 30% of the total GDP in the next decade, through rapid transformation of MSME sector in the country, which contributes about 35-40% of the total manufacturing GDP.  This will bring in significant transformation by adoption of best practices of Japanese manufacturing excellence to Indian MSMEs while promoting the cost competitiveness of both Japan and India by leveraging the strengths of both the countries.”

 
Dr. K G Suresh, Country Head – BCIC JAPAN welcomed the move and hoped the relationships between small and medium enterprises in India and Japan will bond further with the support of SMRJ.

 
BCIC, the first industry body from India to set up an office in Tokyo, Japan is in the process of planning delegation visits to Japan for representatives from micro, small and medium enterprises in India and will host delegation visits of MSMEs from Japan to India. These initiatives will enable India to move towards manufacturing and technology excellence.