SINGAPORE: A two-day `Asia Pacific Business Summit,' aimed at projecting Singapore as "the world's gateway to India," concluded here on Thursday on an upbeat note.

The summit, known as `Connecting India,' was designed also to turn the focus on the prospects for new linkages between the two countries in the specific context of their economic pact that was signed last year.

Summing up the outcome of the event, Chairman of the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SICCI), M. Rajaram, said the mood remained "very positive." The delegates, numbering around 600 from several southeast Asian countries as also Australia and the United Kingdom, took note of "the various shortcomings" of the India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA).

There were two ways of addressing the CECA deficiencies. While one was to "bring down the expectations" from either side about the pact, the other strategy was to "raise the reality" to a higher plane of engagement. The Singapore business community would prefer the strategic choice of enhancing the reality, he emphasised.

The "interest in India" among the business communities of East Asia became evident during the summit. Mr. Rajaram said the "comparative" study of India and China, a special feature of the summit, served as an "eye-opener" for many delegates. An awareness-deficit was addressed in relation to such aspects as the income disparities in China and the low internet-and-broadband coverage in India despite its reputation as an "information technology superpower," he said.

There was, however, no vision-deficit, with the delegates, including those from the dominant entrepreneurial class in Singapore, evincing interest in exploring new links with India, he indicated.

A consortium of private-sector Singapore firms was now being planned to catalyse investment flows into India's real estate sector. The idea was to create a fund for providing "seed capital" in this sector, and the "approval" from relevant authorities in Singapore was awaited, he said.

The summit was organised by the SICCI as a highlight-event of the Indian High Commission's project of `Celebrating India.' The Hindu and The Hindu Business Line were the media partners.

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