As Japan grapples with labor shortage due to low birth rates and an aging population it is introducing changes to its immigration policies. Recent initiatives on immigration such as the changes in the “Specified Skilled Worker” program, attempts to draw in high-skilled tech professionals, simplifying the residency status system and doubling the cap on the number of foreigners eligible for a Japan skilled immigration visa indicate an incremental liberalisation.
For India these changes hold great promise as it looks to double the number of human resources exchanges and movement of professionals with in the next five years. The initiative is expected to be one of the key topics at the forthcoming India-Japan summit.
The objective of the project is to analyse the driving factors in the ongoing policy re-configuration related to immigration in Japan. The focus would also be on the opportunities for India and critical issues such as education challenges in India, cultural differences and skills gaps that India must address in order to avail of the opportunities.
