The first ever joint Symposium between India and Japan to facilitate regulatory collaboration for medical products was inaugurated by HE Kenji Hiramatsu, Ambassador of Japan; Mr. K B Agarwal, Additional Secretary, MOH&FW, Govt. of India; Dr. Jagdish Prasad,Director General of Health Services, MOH&FW, Govt. of India; Mr. K L Sharma, Joint Secretary, MoH&FW, Govt. of India; Dr. G N Singh, Drug Controller General (India),CDSCO, Govt. of India, Dr. Kazuhiro Shigetoh, Executive Director of Japanese Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Agency.
The two day symposium was organized . As India is scaling up its Healthcare systems and in parallel streamlining the Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Regulatory guidelines, it is envisaged that harmonization of regulatory frameworks will benefit trade exchange & technology exchange for larger good. Japan is the 3rd largest Medical Devices Manufacturer and Consumer in the World. It is a pioneer for development of several Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices. Japan and India are strong cultural and trade partners, with Japan being the 4th largest FDI contributor to India. Under the agreement held in 2015 between Mr. Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India and Mr. Shinzō Abe, Hon’ble Prime Minister of Japan FDIs from Japan are likely to be doubled by 2019. During the two day Symposium, participants from both countries agreed to collaborate more comprehensively in future.
The Japanese side has extended support to Govt. of India for Indian Regulators’ Skill enhancement through their Asia Training Centre. “This is a great start. We have achieved much needed momentum for our Regulators to meet and collaborate. From this point onwards, we collectively commit ourselves to greater partnership and bi-lateral relationship”, said Mr. Probir Das, Chairman, FICCI Medical Devices Forum. The Symposium will now become a regular event, with each side hosting it once a year. Next year Symposium will be hosted in Japan.