Singapore Invites Indian Investment For Greater Economic Ties

New Delhi, July 12, IRNA – Visiting Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Wednesday urged Indian industry leaders to invest for greater economic cooperation and development, especially in education, health and power. “We are in the process of setting up a board of investment to help potential investors in executing the projects”, he said, while addressing a joint business meeting organized by industry bodies ASSOCHAM, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). Loong, who is here with a 30-member delegation on a four-day visit, said both countries are mutually important economic partner, with bilateral economic relations growing exponentially after signing of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) in 2005. Meanwhile, Dilip Modi, immediate past-president ASSOCHAM, said that Singapore is India’s largest trade and investment partner in ASEAN. Bilateral trade reached US$ 17.44 million in 2010-11. Singapore has become a preferred center of operations for Indian companies active in the Asia Pacific region. “Combined with a good enabling environment, strong air connectivity and the presence of a large Indian community, Singapore has emerged as a key offshore logistics and financial hub for many Indian corporations. There are estimated to be about 4000 registered “Indian” companies in Singapore,” he said. Speaking on the occasion, Adi Godrej, president of CII, said bilateral trade post CECA has been growing at close to 20% annually with the exception of a couple of years when trade was affected by the global financial crises. Between 2006-07 and 2010-11, trade has grown by 51% and we hope the target of $32 billion would be achieved by 2015. Indian firms too have invested in a large variety of sectors in Singapore such as IT and ITEs, FMCG, steel etc. Facilitative business environments, competitive tax regime, excellent connectivity, a network of FTAs and strong Government support and encouragement have given Singapore an edge over other countries, added Godrej. R V Kanoria, president of FICCI, said Indian entrepreneurs are increasingly using Singapore as a launch pad to expand their business globally, with their presence from services to manufacturing and from hi-tech to basic of business. Opportunities are immense and the foundation for a strong and fruitful partnership between Singapore and India is already in place, but there is much potential to take ties further forward. Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreements (CECA), could be a direction for both the countries to collectively work towards re-discovering and re-energizing our long-standing trade and investment relations, said Kanoria. Singapore has emerged as the most sought after destination for foreign direct investment by Indian companies, which invested over USD 500 million there, accounting for about a fourth of the country's total outward investment of USD 2.35 billion only in May. The two countries also have a bilateral free trade agreement which has helped the mutual commerce growing to near USD 20 billion./end