The panelists engaging in discussion
  Special Advisor of JBIC Takashi Hongo delivering a speech
  Displays in the JBIC booth

The Global Eco-Business Forum was held in New Delhi, India on September 5, 2009, supported by JBIC and other institutions.  JBIC’s Special Advisor Takashi Hongo who also serves as Head of its Environment Finance Engineering Department participated in the event as a speaker.  In his presentation, he advocated a business model that combines Japanese industrial technologies with Japanese financing, in addition to describing JBIC efforts to fight climate change.

The two keynote addresses were delivered at the beginning by Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, a Nobel laureate as a Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as well as and Director General of The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI), and Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa, Professor at National Graduate Institute for Policy.

Dr. Pachauri expressed high expectations for a partnership between Japan and India on eco-friendly technologies to combat climate change and achieve the sustainable growth of the Indian economy.  Dr. Kurokawa, while pointing out the importance of recognizing differential Indian and Japanese cultures, talked about the potential of dissemination of Japanese environmental technologies in India.

Mr. Takashi Hongo made a presentation titled “Sustainable Growth of the Indian Economy and Cooperation with Japan under the Environment and Energy Constraint.”  As the world is today facing a twin crisis of economic crisis and climate change, he cited the Leading Investment for the Environment (LIFE) Initiative being implemented by JBIC as a way to provide solutions to the twin crisis.

For sustainable growth of the Indian economy, India and Japan have to move forward environmental cooperation by making most use of Japanese environmental technologies and financing.  In this regard, he made a point that the key is “Commercially viable best available technology (BAT).”  In the Talk Session on the “Role of Finance in India-Japan Environmental Technological Collaboration,” Mr. Hongo and Mr. Nihal Desai, General Manger, Head of Corporate Banking Group, North India, of ICICI Bank, the largest bank in India, discussed “Commercially viable  BAT.”  Since ICICI Bank has already launched a loan facility for supporting environmental investments with financial support form JBIC, both banks confirmed continued cooperation between the two banks to mitigate climate change.

In the presentation sessions, Japanese speakers talked about energy efficiency improvement technologies in the cement and steel industries, heat pump and inverter technologies and development of renewable energy resources and discussed the possibility of their utilization in India with Indian government officials, including in the Electric Power Ministry, and TERI staff.

In concluding the Forum, Mr. Raj Chengappa, Managing Editor of India Today, moderated the panel discussion among Secretary Ajay Shankar of the Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Pachauri of TERI, Dr. Kurokawa of National Graduate Institute for Policy and Mr. Hongo of JBIC.  Dr. Pachauri touched on a possible Japan-India partnership not only in the diffusion of environmental technologies but also in the area of research and development and national lifestyle.  Dr. Kurokawa exhorted Japanese firms to work in India in the area of road construction, high-speed railway and an overall system of urban development, including water management.  Mr. Hongo pointed out the need to play up a successful example for information dissemination and thereby accelerating investment activities.

These sessions increased a common awareness that collaboration between the two countries to fight climate change holds promise for the sustainable growth of the Indian economy and further development of Japan-India relations.