Course description

India and Japan have shared strong trade and economic ties that have strengthened further over the years. With the global trading environment undergoing major changes with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, this partnership could prove to be a strong stabilizing force for the Asian region along with the rest of the world. A key area which has significant potential for expanding bilateral trade and investment opportunities is the services sector. The CII paper “Boosting India-Japan Services Trade” provides an overview of services trade between India and Japan and offers an industry perspective on how to further accelerate it. The paper identifies potential sectors of interest that would mutually benefit both partners through the Revealed Comparative Advantage index. Further, the paper conducts an analysis to identify the fast-growing service sectors for both sides. Greater engagement in these sectors would lead to higher growth and economic prospects for both countries. The paper’s findings reveal that India and Japan could benefit from greater collaboration in sectors such as Intellectual Property, telecommunications, construction, manufacturing, travel and transport, among others. It highlights issues and concerns from both sides relating to the CEPA and provides recommendations and remedial measures for a way forward. The paper includes issues to be addressed such as mutual recognition agreements (MRA) for service professionals, implementation of Visa-on-Arrival program, protection and international conformity of intellectual property rights, and non-tariff barriers, among others.