Minister for Industries Mekapati Goutham Reddy said the Government proposed to develop a second Japan Industrial Township (JIT) at Chittoor which is one of the nodes in Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor.
“The Government is offering special fiscal incentives to Japanese companies setting up manufacturing facilities in the JITs (the first one is at Sri City), especially to those shifting their bases from China along with their suppliers. As on date, about 25 Japanese companies are operating in the State.
“It recently cleared the establishment of an off-highway tyre manufacturing unit by Yokohoma Group.
“These are some of the milestones in the successful partnership between Andhra Pradesh (A.P) and Japan, which has strengthened since the new government led by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy took the reigns one-and-a-half years ago,” Mr. Goutham Reddy said in his special address to a CII session on 'Promoting India - Japan Strategic and Economic Cooperation during COVID and Beyond' on Thursday.
The Minister said the collaboration with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan External Trade Organisation, Japan Bank of International Co-operation, Japan International Cooperation Agency, Kuni Umi Asset Management Company Limited etc. was helping in transforming the industrial landscape of A.P.
Up to 200 Japanese expats who were working and living in and around Sri City have become natural ambassadors to new Japanese investors.
Efforts were underway to realise the full potential of Krishnapatnam node (which has nearly 13,000 acres of land) in Chennai - Bangalore Industrial Corridor. A Japan desk has been set up in the Industries Department to facilitate Japanese businesses into A.P. whose biggest advantage was it's 974 km-long coastline.
The Minister said the A.P. government has identified 10 focus sectors of interest for Japanese companies namely toys and furniture, footwear and leather, machinery and precision equipment, aerospace and defence, pharma, textiles, automobiles, electronics, food processing and petrochemicals.
Besides, a one million square feet mixed use facility was proposed to be developed in Visakhapatnam, Mr. Goutham Reddy added.
