The Hindu : International / India & World : Final talks on for economic cooperation pact with Singapore

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 10, 2004

International

International - India & World

Final talks on for economic cooperation pact with Singapore

By P.S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE, DEC. 9. India and Singapore "are now in the final negotiations" for a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA), and the Prime Ministers of the two countries "are looking forward to signing the CECA early next year."

Giving this bilateral update, the Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Security and Defence, Tony Tan, told a distinguished gathering at the 80th anniversary dinner of the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) here on Wednesday that "the potential for win-win cooperation between Singapore and India is very bright."

The prospective CECA has often been projected by the City State as a potential "FTA (Free Trade Agreement) Plus" charter of its economic relationship with India. CECA-related negotiations have been going on for over 18 months.

Dr. Tan said the CECA was conceived to provide an "even greater impetus" than the momentum at present for companies in both countries to "leverage the comparative advantages of each other for innovation, enterprise, technology and talent."

`Window of opportunity'

Describing the CECA as "a window of opportunity for Singapore to strengthen economic links with India," he said, "we can expect India to be a thriving investment market and a new field of opportunities for investors world-wide."

Reminiscing about "the 30 men who came together 80 years ago to form the Indian Merchants Association, the first incarnation of this Chamber (SICCI)," Dr. Tan said those "founders had that same capacity to see, and the drive to seek, opportunities beyond known frontiers" as was displayed by "the pioneers in the 11th century who left India to search for opportunities."

Tracing a dramatic a shift in the montage of events "almost a millennium on," he said, "businessmen today have reversed the flow and have flocked to India to seek opportunities there."

Speaking of his recent visit to India against this historical background, he drew attention to how he was struck by the "bustling business environment" in the places he saw and by "the goodwill towards Singapore and the willingness, indeed eagerness, of Indian institutions and businessmen to work with Singapore institutions and companies."

`A good example'

"Impressed by Satyam's vision and leadership to build a company based almost entirely on customers outside India," Dr. Tan held it out as "a good example of how a small home market," as in Singapore, "need not be a handicap in building a global company."

Praising the "successive generations" of the SICCI leaders in Singapore for having displayed "the vision to expand traditional ties and build new relationships" with India, he urged the Chamber to "leverage on this and, where possible, extend this invaluable network to fellow Singaporeans."

Team to visit India

The SICCI Chairman, M. Rajaram, who outlined new initiatives, said the Chamber, acting in concert with the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, would organise a delegation's visit to India next month.

From Singapore's perspective, "as India opens up, the ability to plug into the network of non-resident Indians and the global Indian business community would be essential for trade and investment," he said.

Dr. Tan later presented the first-ever SICCI-DBS Singapore Indian Entrepreneur Awards, while the Singapore Education Minister and Special Guest, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, gave away trophies to all the finalists.

The SICCI Vice-Chairman, Vijay Iyengar, who is also Chairman of the Chamber's 80th Anniversary Committee, said "the winners and the finalists are the role models for the Indian community and the (Singapore) community as a whole".

The Chairman of the Panel of Judges for the Awards, J.Y. Pillay, explained the parameters of the new competition for "Indian individuals," Singapore citizens or permanent residents of the City-State, subject to ownership and management criteria in respect of a business or company registered here. It was announced that the award logo was conceptualised and designed by Akila Iyengar. The theme of the logo is one of "forging ahead in the business community, stepping up and meeting challenges in the true spirit of entrepreneurship."

The winners in the inaugural competition were Vikas Goel (eSys Technologies Pte Ltd. in the `large enterprise' category); V.S. Kumar (Network Courier Pte Ltd (`medium enterprise'); and Christopher Clive (Origem Solutions Pte Ltd. (`young entrepreneur' category).

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