Jakarta, 26 April 2024: ERIA organised the inaugural meeting and workshop for the newly established programme, ‘ERIA-CII-ISID India-Japan Partnership for GVC Investments and Technology Cooperation’ at the ERIA headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia. Attendees included officials and academics from partnering organisations, namely Institute for Studies in Industrial Development, Confederation of Indian Industry, JETRO Delhi Office, Institute of Developing Economies-JETRO, Australian National University, and Senior Economists of ERIA.

The programme aims to establish an institution-led mechanism to promote investments in the production networks, supply chains, and technology cooperation between India and Japan, with involvement from Australia for critical mineral supply chains. ASEAN will play a crucial role as a partner in this initiative. Additionally, South Korea and Taiwan are expected to join soon for setting resilient and diversified supply chains in the digital economy, including semiconductors and AI. The programme will also support policy and regulatory dialogues on cybersecurity and data flow among supply chain partners. A research support unit jointly held by ERIA, ISID, and ANU (for critical minerals supply chains), will be established to implement and shape the programme and provide research inputs for policy dialogue processes between India and Japan, as well as with Australia and ASEAN.

During the workshop, participants outlined the programme’s framework. It will encompass sectors such as the digital economy (electronics, semi-conductor, AI, etc.), green and sustainability-related products, conventional products (ICE automotives, chemical and pharmaceutical, textile, food production), critical minerals, and cross border data flows and data protection. Thematic areas of focus will include trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation, ease of doing business, MSMEs integration with value chains, corridors and connectivity (physical, institutional, and digital), infrastructure, and facilitation of human resource and MNP for selected skills.

The workshop also discussed the contents of the inaugural report titled ‘Leveraging India-Japan Economic Partnership for Resilient Value Chains: Strengthening Trade, Investment, and Technology Cooperation.’ The report’s contents were finalised and the completed report will be presented at the next India-Japan leaders meeting in 2024.

The programme aims to deliver research, technology cooperation, and investment facilitation to develop resilient and diversified supply chains, including critical mineral supply chains among India, Japan, Australia, ASEAN, and with South Korea and Taiwan. The RSU will play a role in facilitating programme implementation and monitoring. The programme will initially run for three years followed by review and upscaling of objectives.