Thursday, April 3, 2008

Indian delegation to meet Singapore Prime Minister

by Jo Black

A high powered delegation of Indian political and business leaders, led by the Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, Tourism Minister Ambika Soni and Sunil Mittal, CII President visit Singapore from 4-7 April 2008 as part of the Incredible!India @60 event, organised jointly by the Government of India and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

After the success of the ‘India Everywhere’ campaign in Davos 2006 and the India@60 in New York in September 2007, the Incredible!India@60 carries forward the objective of highlighting India’s achievements as the a fast moving resurgent economy, with global footprints, and emphasizing its potential as a partner.

The Singapore government is participating in Incredible!ndia@60 in strength, with the Hon’ble Prime Minister of Singapore HE Mr. Lee Hsien Loong being the Chief Guest at the Gala dinner on 4th April. Minister for Community Development, Youth & Sports and Second Minister for IT, Communications & Arts Dr Vivian Balakrishnan; Mr Lee Boon Young, Minister for Information, Communication & Arts and Mr S Iswaran, Minister of State for Trade & Industry are interacting with and participating in the event.

Incredible!India@60 will involve three days of business meetings and sessions focusing on, amongst others, Indian manufacturing, infrastructure and India’s knowledge economy, including healthcare, ICT, education and skill development as well as financial services. India’s soft power will come alive at orchard Street in Singapore with enthralling cultural performances, handicrafts display and a photo exhibition on Incredible India. A fashion show presented by the well-known fashion designer and film-maker couple Meera and Muzaffar Ali will present to Singapore a breathtaking collection of Indian silk, wool, brocade and embroidery.

The CEOs delegation led by President CII has members from various industry sectors - Analjit Singh, Max India group of companies; Arun Bharat Ram, SRF; Subodh Bhargava, Tata Communications;Shekhar Datta, Bombay Stock Exchange; Rajive Kaul, NICCO Corporation; Sandeep Ghosh, Citibank; Manish Kejriwal, Temasek Holdings Advirors India; Atul Singh, Coca Cola; N Kumar, Sanmar Group; AP Mull, TCE Consulting Engineers; Rajan Navani, Jetline group of companies; Girija Pande, Tata Consultancy Services; Atul Punj, Punj Lloyd; Gopal Srinivasan, TVS Electronics; Ravininder Singh, HSBC, HR Srinivasan, Take Solutions India.

India and Singapore are becoming increasingly important economic partners. Singapore is India’s largest trading partner among ASEAN countries, provides a gateway for India to ASEAN and China. Bilateral trade has soared between the two nations since the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) in 2005. Singapore is the 4th largest investor in India, with FDI of US$2.7 billion between April 2000 - December 2007. Singapore companies have increasingly invested in infrastructure and real estate as well as in logistics and communications and in the power sector in India, and have plans for healthcare, education, training retail and the automotive industries. Similarly, more than 3,000 Indian companies have a base in Singapore. India’s investment in Singapore has grown 14% over the past decade. In 2005, India invested more than SGD $1.2 billion in the city-state, making India the 7th largest Asian investor there.

In the knowledge sector particularly, the bond between the two countries is strengthening. More than 300 Indian IT companies have set up software development operations in Singapore. Indian firms now make up the fourth largest community in Singapore, and 19 of the top 20 Indian technology companies have a base there.

Cultural ties have traditionally been strong between the two countries, with a large and vibrant Indian diaspora community living in Singapore. Indeed, Tamil, an Indian language, is also one of Singapore’s official languages.

The first India@60 event was held in New York in September 2007, with a large Ministerial and industry presence. The India@60 Singapore event is the second in the series.

Every year for the past 14 years, CII has been coming to Singapore every year to continue and escalate the dialogue between the two nations. CII has a special high level, multi sector industry Core Group that has focused on building the ties and identifying specific opportunities for co-operation. Incredible!ndia@60 is a logical step to these efforts. The presence of the Indian Ministers and the high level CEOs delegation attests to the strong mutual interest between India and Singapore, said Sunil Bharti Mittal, CII President.

Agreeing, Mr Tarun Das, Chief Mentor, CII added, Singapore is strategically very important for us. A corridor to East and South East Asia, Singapore’s professional management expertise, strength in IT and technology offers huge learnings for India. In fact, CII is exploring a tie-up on Skills development between IETE Singapore and India.

 

 

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