Four MoUs were exchanged on Sept 5, witnessed by PM Lawrence Wong and Indian PM Narendra Modi, who is in the Republic on an official visit. - LIANHE ZAOBAO
SINGAPORE: India and Singapore exchanged agreements on Wednesday (Sept 5) to help firms in the Republic tap into India’s growing semiconductor industry and tighten digital links between the two countries.
They will also be stepping up cooperation in areas such as skills development and healthcare.
Four memoranda of understanding were exchanged at Parliament House, witnessed by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is here on an official visit.
These were first signed by Singapore ministers and their Indian counterparts on the sidelines of the second edition of the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR), which was held at Shangri-La Singapore on Aug 26.
Modi, who is in Singapore for two days, earlier received a ceremonial welcome by PM Wong at Parliament House.
Semiconductors
India aims to grow its semiconductor industry and become a global node for semiconductor manufacturing, while players in Singapore’s established ecosystem are looking to enter emerging markets.
The MoU in this area will see both countries partnering to support India’s growth plans and facilitate the entry of Singapore companies and supply chains in the Indian market.
It was signed between Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
The partnership includes government-led policy exchanges on ecosystem development, supply chain resilience, and workforce development.
Semiconductors and advance manufacturing were identified as new areas for bilateral collaboration at the second ISMR dialogue between ministers.
Digital technologies
To encourage greater interoperability between Singapore and India’s digital economies, an agreement was inked in the field of digital technologies. This includes the exchange of knowledge and expertise on digital public infrastructure such as digital IDs, payments and data exchange.
The MoU was signed between Singapore’s Ministry of Digital Development and Information and India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information.
This builds upon existing cooperation efforts such as the real-time payment systems linkage between Singapore’s PayNow with India’s Unified Payments Interface launched in Feb 2023.
This allows bank customers in Singapore and India to send and receive funds in their bank accounts and e-wallets instantly across the two countries.
Singapore and India banks and companies also pioneered a fully paperless transaction process involving traders, shippers, and banks in Aug 2023, which showcased the digitalisation of cross border trade financing documentation using the TradeTrust framework.
Both sides are also working to update and renew a 2015 agreement on cybersecurity cooperation between the Singapore Cyber Emergency Response Team and India’s Computer Emergency Response Team.
Cooperation in education, healthcare
Technical education, alongside training and skills development, is among the areas of collaboration agreed upon between Singapore’s Ministry of Education and India’s Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
The Higher Education institutes of both countries will cooperate in areas such as reskilling and upskilling the workforce, student and staff exchanges, and the training of teachers. This will also include student internships and faculty industrial attachments.
On the medical front, an MOU was signed between Singapore’s Ministry of Health and India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The two countries will strengthen cooperation in healthcare, medical education, research, and human resource development, including in areas such as disease surveillance, maternal and child health, prevention of communicable and non-communicable diseases, and pandemic preparedness.
The four MoUs were exchanged between India’s Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar and Singapore’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan.
As part of the official visit, Modi will call on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and meet Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong. He will be hosted to lunch by Lee.
He will also engage students from Singapore who did internships in India as part of the India Ready Talent Programme, which offers university and polytechnic students overseas internship opportunities at Indian and Singapore companies in India.
He will then meet interns from technical skills institute World Skill Centre in the Indian city of Odisha who are working in companies here. - The Straits Times/ANN
