Honoring a leader whose company has spent four decades building the bridge between two nations
At the Rising India 2 India-Japan Business Conclave, held on June 17, 2026 at the Akasaka Prince Classic House in Tokyo, Mr. Toshihiro Suzuki, Representative Director and President of Suzuki Motor Corporation, was honored with the India-Japan Excellence Award by H.E. Ms. Nagma Mohamed Mallick, Ambassador of India to Japan, in recognition of his and his company’s extraordinary contribution to strengthening ties between the two nations.
The India-Japan Excellence Award is presented by Connect India Japan to individuals who have gone beyond the ordinary course of business to build lasting bridges between India and Japan — through enterprise, leadership, and an enduring commitment to the relationship between the two countries.
Few companies embody that spirit as completely as Suzuki. The company’s India journey began in 1982 with a joint venture with the Government of India, and the launch of the Maruti 800 that became the first car for millions of Indian families. In the decades since, Suzuki has grown into one of the most consequential enterprises in India’s economic story — with Maruti Suzuki achieving record-high production of 2.35 million units and record exports of approximately 448,000 units in FY2025 alone, a scale matched by only a handful of companies worldwide.
Mr. Suzuki attended Rising India 2 and delivered the keynote address, “Growing Together with Bharat,” in which he reaffirmed India’s role as the cornerstone of Suzuki’s global strategy and outlined the company’s continued investment in India’s future — from clean mobility and biogas initiatives to its “Next Bharat Ventures” program supporting Indian entrepreneurs.
Presenting him with the award, Ambassador Mallick pointed to Mr. Suzuki directly, noting that those who planted seeds in India decades ago — factories, training centres, supplier networks, technical institutes — are today watching those trees bear fruit.
The India-Japan Excellence Award stands as one of Connect India Japan’s ways of honoring the individuals whose work, year after year, transforms the India-Japan relationship from a diplomatic ideal into a lived, working partnership.
