The Hindu : International / India & World : Singapore to host 'India business summit'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 27, 2004

International

International - India & World

Singapore to host 'India business summit'

By P.S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE, JUNE 26. The Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) and the Mumbai-based Indian Merchants' Chamber (IMC) will host a two-day conference — "India Calling 2004: Asia Pacific Business Summit" — here on July 9 and 10.

Announcing this, the SICCI Chairman, M. Rajaram, said today that the business summit would be the first of its kind to be held outside India in the IMC's "India Calling" series. This signified that "India is reaching out to the world through Singapore as conduit," he said to a question about SICCI's initiative in planning the event.

"A key highlight of the conference will be a special plenary session, with industry and government experts providing a comprehensive perspective of the Indian budget, which will be released on July 8," he added. As for the timing of the conference, Mr. Rajaram said the recent emergence of a new coalition government in India was only a matter of pure "coincidence" in planning the summit. The basic objective was to focus attention on India's key growth sectors and on Singapore's status as "the hub" for promoting business linkages between India and the Asia Pacific region.

The identified growth sectors are information technology, telecommunications, banking and finance, insurance and capital markets, infrastructure and real estate, special economic zones, biotechnology and healthcare services, legal services, pharmaceuticals, education, tourism/hospitality and entertainment, agro-and-food processing as also garments/textiles and fashion.

Supported by governmental institutions in India and Singapore and by more than 50 chambers of commerce spanning 23 countries, the summit is expected to attract several hundred delegates from India and Singapore, besides the larger Asia Pacific region, the SICCI — now celebrating the 80th anniversary of its founding — said in a statement.

Singapore's Acting Minister of State for Education, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and the Minister of State for NRI Affairs, Jagdish Tytler, are expected to attend the meet. SICCI's prime role in hosting the event, together with the IMC, acquires importance in the context of the Singapore Government's efforts to act as a bridge between the Asia Pacific region and the fast-developing economies of China and India.

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