The Hindu Business Line : Japan's ageing population and India's opportunity

India, with its vast pool of skilled service providers would be ideally placed to provide services across a range of sectors. India would therefore like Japan to facilitate the movement of such service providers across borders

Tokyo , Dec. 13

For visitors from India to the Japanese capital, the crowds on the street will be a familiar sight, but the world's second largest economy and one of the most densely populated lands in the world - its 127 million people averaging 343 for every square km - is now finding its population in decline.

In the four days that the Indian Prime Minister spends in Japan this week, the world's tenth most populous country will shed some 240 people from its total count. In 2005, for the first time since records came to be kept, the number of births recorded in Japan fell below the number of deaths, causing the decline in population and a further skew in the age profile.

Demographic contrast

People above 65 years now constitute over 21 per cent of the population, a little over twice the proportion that was just 20 years ago.

Back in India on the other hand, 40,000 people will be added to the population each day. The interesting aspect of India's demographic profile is that the proportion of people in the working age group, that is 15 to 59, would have swelled in relation to the number of dependents, those below 14 and those above 60.

It is this dramatic demographic contrast that could provide some momentum to the interaction between the two countries.

"The difference in the population dynamics of Japan and India, with the former having an ageing society and the latter a large younger population, is another dimension that makes the Japanese and Indian economies complementary," pointed out the India-Japan Joint Study Group in its report earlier this year.

"India, with its vast pool of skilled service providers would be ideally placed to provide services across a range of sectors. India would therefore like Japan to facilitate the movement of such service providers across borders. This can be done by removing barriers such as economic needs tests and disciplining domestic regulations, especially in the area of qualification requirements and procedures," points out the Study Group.

The two countries may need to recognise the professional or academic qualifications awarded by institutions in either country through what are called mutual recognition agreements. One such was signed in Cebu city this week that would provide region-wide recognition for nurses trained in the Philippines. And Japan and India have recognised each others' Information Technology Engineers' exams.

Professionals Movement

No one is under any illusion that the movement of medical, accountancy, architectural and software professionals from India to Japan will be facilitated easily. The sensitivities of such a change are obvious. But Japan's new Prime Minister, Mr Shinzo Abe, is keen to change the rigid immigration policy his country has featured for decades.

In his book Utsukushii Kuni e (Toward a Beautiful Nation) published earlier this year, Mr Abe says, "We should aim for a country that is seen by people around the world as a place where they want to come to work, want to invest, in short a country that gives everyone a chance. To those who resonate with Japan's national character and ideals, to those who wish to educate their children here, or to those who want to be Japanese, we should open our doors wide. Moreover, we should do this because it will contribute to the dynamism of Japan."

India's software companies that have probed the Japanese market for the past seven years with but marginal success would be keen to see how the policy unfolds under Mr Abe.

More Stories on : Foreign Relations | Human Resources | Foreign Trade

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Japan keen to take part in rail freight corridor project

Japan's ageing population and India's opportunity

Bharti teams up with AXA for life insurance foray

DoT seeks Cabinet nod to amend Press Note 5

Private equity investments soar: PwC

Bad scheduling of fertiliser imports costs PSUs Rs 160 cr in demurrage

RIL to invest $5.2 b for doubling KG basin output

Apt time to lift ban on sugar exports: Pawar

Century Mills set to down shutters in Mumbai

Sensex up 186 on back of strong fund buying

Momentum indicators signal a medium-term downtrend

ICICI Bank hikes lending, deposit rates