India, Japan ink pact on urban development

Taking the bilateral ties between India and Japan forward, the two countries on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for setting up Indo-Japan Joint Working Group on Urban Development.

New Delhi, May 1 : Taking the bilateral ties between India and Japan forward, the two countries on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for setting up Indo-Japan Joint Working Group on Urban Development.

Union Minister for Urban Development Jaipal Reddy and Tetsuzo Fuyshiba, Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport inked the pact in New Delhi today.

The first meeting of the Working Group is scheduled in June this year in Tokyo. The meeting is expected to discuss specific areas of cooperation in the field of water environment, urban development and urban transport.

Speaking on the occasion, Reddy said that Japan Bank for International Cooperation has provided loan of over 1.36 billion dollars for Delhi Mass Rapid Transit System, MRTS project which is a shining example of Indo-Japanese Cooperation in urban transport.

"Japan is renowned for its advanced urban transport technologies in the field of Metro Rail, Mono Rail, Linear Metro and Maglev. Some of these are being introduced in India also. We would welcome technical collaboration with Japanese experts for setting up such systems in other metropolitan cities," he said.

Reddy further said that collaboration would also be required in the field of Intelligent Transport Systems and Traffic Information Centres as the government was promoting them in all cities having million plus population.

He went on to say that if the momentum of economic growth were to be maintained, the challenges thrown up by large-scale urbanization would have to be addressed without delay. He added that the total investment required in urban transport in India during the next five years was estimated at 29.5 billon dollars.

He said the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, JBIC's assistance would be further required for the new corridors being sanctioned for Delhi Metro Phase II Project as well as for other Metro Projects like Kolkata and East-West Corridor. Other areas of collaboration could be integrated land use planning, safety certification mechanism and laying down parameters for Guided Urban Transit Systems, GUTS, he added.

Fuyshiba, who is heading a 17-member delegation, said that Delhi Metro was the symbolic expression of goodwill between India and Japan. He stated that the agreement was not only a great step in the expansion of cooperation between the two countries, but also a step forward for building of world peace.

It may be recalled that during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Japan in December 2006, New Delhi and Tokyo agreed to establish a Strategic and Global Partnership involving political and diplomatic coordination on bilateral, regional and global issues.

The two sides have also agreed to set up Joint Working Group in the fields of water environment, urban development and urban transportation.

ANI