Speech
concerning Information Technology
by Prime Minister Mori at the meeting with
the leaders from Indian IT companies, hosted by Honourable Mr. S. M.
Krishna, Chief Minister of Karnataka"IT Cooperation between Japan and India in the 21st Century"
22nd August,
2000
Taj Westend Hotel, Bangalore |
Honourable
Mr. S. M. Krishna, Chief Minster of Karnataka,
Honourable Mr. R.V. Deshpande, Minister for Large and Medium Industries
and Infrastructure Development, Mr. Bharat Ram, President, Confederation
of Indian Industry, Ladies and Gentlemen,
[Opening remarks]
It has been a considerable privilege for me, on this visit to India, a
great and friendly nation in Asia, to come first here to Bangalore, a focus
of International attention and where Japanese firms are actively investing,
and to witness with my own eyes the great strides that are being made.
I have learnt the enthusiasm with which the state government of Karnataka
has fostered the IT industry, and that it was one of the earliest in India
to inaugurate an IT policy. It is also my great honour to meet with leaders
in India's flourishing IT industry.
As you are well aware, IT was a major agenda at the recent Kyushu-Okinawa
Summit, which I chaired. In view of this, I am extremely delighted at the
timing of this visit occurring directly after the summit, and giving me
the precious opportunity to exchange views with government officials and
others of India with regard to the addressing of the important issue of
IT utilization.
IT is a theme to which high priority is being given in Japan, too. New
information society will be created with the Internet connecting between
not only computers but also various vehicles such as mobile phones, home
electronics appliances, and automobiles and railways through ITS (Intelligent
Transportation System). Each of these fields are what Japan has an advantage,
and by using these, we are making contributions to the international society
in the new fields of IT. Japan is also aiming to contribute in the fields
of Highspeed Switching Technologies and Optical Communication Technologies
that are indispensable for Broadband Internet of next generations.
[The Mori Administration and IT]
IT is the key to the prosperity in the 21st century. Since my
administration was inaugurated, one of its central pillars has been
the promotion of the IT revolution, in pursuit of bold and rapid
reform of Japan's economic structure. In this context, I established
the IT Strategy Council. Now looking at the global situation, the
spread of IT is rapidly transforming the structure of our society
and industry. IT was among top of our agenda in the Kyushu-Okinawa
Summit, with regards that it should be a common challenge for all
of mankind to address such overall changes IT brings about in our
living environment, and at the same time, to ensure everyone the
open access to the possibilities IT makes. Our discussion led to
a conclusion that in order to enable all of mankind to utilize IT
we need to eliminate the digital divide and undertake human resources
development, thereby creating an appropriate environment for IT use.
Our discussion on IT was compiled into the "Okinawa Charter," calling
for global cooperation encompassing governments and private sectors
in individual countries, international organizations, and all other
entities concerned.
As a concrete action resulting from this, Japan has drawn up a comprehensive
assistance package extending a total of approximately US$15 billion over
the next five years, signalling the leadership that Japan intends to show
in the promotion of IT use among developing countries, with particular
emphasis on Asia.
[Japan-India IT Promotion and Cooperation Initiative]
India is now widely recognized as an advanced country in the IT field.
I can see great potential in promoting close dialogue and cooperation with
India in this field, as part of the global appeal issued at the G8 Summit
in relation to IT. India possesses high software technology that leads
the world, and embraces rich and prominent human resources. Japan has one
of the largest markets in the world and high technology for manufacturing
and thus extraordinary strong complementary relations exist between Japan
and India. As such, I can find good reasons here for the two countries
to cooperate in this field, and am firmly convinced that such cooperation
would lead to the opportunity for the global economy in the 21st century
to spur forward.
The current cooperation between Japan and India in the IT field, however,
still remains low-profile, relative to its great potential. Accordingly,
I would like to reveal to you a proposal, which would take the form of "Japan-India
IT Promotion and Cooperation Initiative." I would like to show this
proposal to Prime Minister Vajpayee.
| (1) |
The
first pillar of this initiative comes from such
recognition that promotion of economic exchanges
in the private sector will be the key to IT development.
At the end of October this year, the Japanese government
will dispatch a large-scale economic mission to
India, led by President of Keidanren, Japan Federation
of Economic Organizations, and Chairman of Japan-India
Business Cooperation Committee. In addition, in
January next year, a mission comprised mainly of
Japanese small and medium-scale enterprises will
be dispatched by JETRO, Japan External Trade Organization,
to visit IT companies in India. As these missions
will also visit Bangalore, I hope that the visits
will trigger active interchanges with promising
IT companies here in India. Furthermore, I have
learnt that the promotion bodies for software in
both countries will sign MOU on mutual cooperation
on the day after tomorrow, making a symbolic example
of interchanges in private sectors. The 'India
IT Symposium" is also due to be held
in October in Tokyo, and the Japanese government
will continue to encourage this kind of private
sector interchanges. |
| (2) |
As
the second pillar, the government of Japan will promote
exchanges of human resources, in order to explore new
Indo-Japanese cooperation on IT. In concrete terms,
we will expand our training programs for Indian engineers
on Japanese business practices and the Japanese language,
so as to accommodate 1000 trainees over the next three
years. Also, the government of Japan is about to launch
an expansive measure on the issuance of multiple-entry
visas for short-stay visits in Japan from India for
business purposes. We hope that, taking advantage of
these opportunities, private sector interchanges between
our two countries will become more prosperous, and
that new possibilities in the IT field will be explored,
paving the way for still further development. |
| (3) |
Thirdly,
in addition to arranging the environment for interchanges
as above-mentioned, it is also important that our two
governments maintain closer dialogue on the subject
of IT as part of efforts to consolidate exchanges between
private sectors and of human resources. On the occasion
of the recent visit to India by the Japanese Minister
of International Trade and Industry in May, it was
agreed to start dialogue between our two countries
on such policy issues as e-government or e-commerce,
and vice-ministerial level dialogue is due to start
in October this year. In addition to this, to serve
as a symbol of bilateral IT cooperation, we would like
to invite Indian minister responsible for IT, senior
officials of state governments that are taking a vigorous
approach to IT policy, and IT leaders from the private
sector, to come to Japan and hold a Japan-India IT
Summit.
Furthermore, I believe that it would be highly beneficial for the wisdom
of our two peoples to be pooled together and shared by means of the
exchange of views between Japan's IT Strategy Council and India's Advisory
Committee on IT. |
[Concluding remarks]
The combination of prominent human resources and technology of Japan and
India will make a real contribution to the efforts being made by the International
community as a whole, that includes finding solution to the issue of digital
divide. I will now end my remarks by expressing my hope that India will
give its warm endorsement and extend vigorous cooperation to this proposal
for the strengthening of IT cooperation with Japan.
Thank you. |
