Isao Yokoi, Senior Investment Advisor for India, Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro), on a visit to Thiruvananthapuram, said that Japanese investors had a marked preference for investing in neighbouring countries including China, Taiwan and Thailand but not India. This could be attributed to lack of information about the infrastructure facilities and investment climate in various parts of the country, he said.

Quite often, Japanese investors have accumulated misinformation about the country's investment potential, Yokoi said. The recession in Japan has also affected the foreign direct investment in the country although it was during this period that India opened itseconomy for wider foreign investment, removing tariff and licence barriers. The considerable amount of time required for getting various approvals for starting industrial ventures in the country was also hindering new investments, Yokoi added.