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| Union minister of road transport and highways Kamal Nath and Singaporean minister of trade and industry S Iswaran at the inaugural session of “India Invest 2009” |
Kolkata: A new global economic architecture will dictate a greater integration in ASEAN, and India and Singapore will be the key players in this process of a stronger economic engagement, said Union minister of road transport and highways Kamal Nath.
Speaking at the inaugural session of “India Invest 2009”, a conference organised by ICC on the October 21 in Singapore, the minister said, “The impressive figure of $19 billion of trade between India and Singapore will go up in the near future.”
“India has witnessed significant reforms in trade and investment, now reforms in governance must be the focus area for the country to grow,” he said.
Elaborating on the government’s plans and programmes for massive infrastructure and road development, Nath said the Centre has planned to add 7000 kms of highways every year to fill up the infrastructural gap and improve connectivity, which holds the key to economic growth and success. Road development programmes will foster inclusive growth, he emphasised, and said roads can add up to 1.5-2 per cent of the GDP.
Earlier in the session, Meghalaya chief minister DD Lapang said, “The north-east of India and Singapore can play a major role in improving India-Singapore bilateral trade and economic relations, in sync with the ‘Look East’ Policy, which has gained a new momentum after the signing of the India-ASEAN FTA.”
Lapang said that a state like Meghalaya offers huge investment opportunities in areas like infrastructure development, tourism, agro and food processing, horticulture and Singaporean investors can take advantage of these opportunities.
“India Invest 2009” aims to explore bi-lateral trade prospects and opportunities for future mutual cooperation between India and Singapore. The conference is a strategic platform for having detailed deliberations on exploring mutual growth opportunities in several industrial sectors such as infrastructure, IT and ITES, agro and food processing, healthcare, financial sector and capital market, real estate by involving business communities and government leaders from India, Singapore and Indonesia.
Singaporean minister of trade and industry S Iswaran said, “Sectors like steel, textiles, agro processing, machinery can play a great role in enhancing bilateral trade and economic co-operation between the two countries.”
Other important dignitaries who spoke at the session were Sunny Varghese, chairman, IE Singapore, and Vijay Iyenger, chairman, SICCI.