Japan is considering setting a new private investment goal of 10 trillion yen ($68 billion) in India over the next decade, local media reported Thursday, as global tariff disputes sharpen calls for trade diversification.
According to Kyodo News, the announcement could be made later this month when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Japan for a three-day trip starting August 29. It would mark Modi’s first visit to the country since May 2023.
The plan updates an earlier commitment made in 2022, when Tokyo pledged 5 trillion yen ($33.8 billion) in investment over five years. The new target seeks to accelerate economic cooperation at a time when India and Japan are working closely to promote a “free and open Indo-Pacific in the face of an assertive China.”
The move also comes as New Delhi is locked in a tariff dispute with Washington. The United States has imposed a 50% duty on Indian exports as part of measures it says are aimed at deterring Russia from continuing its war in Ukraine.
At the same time in Yokohama, leaders from nearly 50 African nations gathered for the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) as the meeting entered its second day. Speaking at the summit on Thursday, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa noted the impact of US trade measures on African economies.
“Recent tariff actions by the United States on African goods have highlighted the need to diversify our export markets,” Ramaphosa said.
He urged Japan to back “tariff cooperation to ease market access for African goods,” noting that South African exports currently face 30% US tariffs.
“South Africa seeks to deepen intra-African trade while becoming a continental industrial platform from which Japanese and other global firms can export into Africa,” he said, pointing to opportunities in infrastructure, energy, and digital development.
“Africa is not seeking aid. It is seeking partners,” Ramaphosa added. “Africa must not merely react to the global economic uncertainty and reshaping of trade but must help to shape them.”