2nd India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable to held in Singapore today; Four union ministers to represent India at the meet

The 2nd India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR), aimed at further strengthening trade and economic ties between the two countries, will be held in Singapore today.

Four union ministers – Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal, S Jaishankar and Ashwini Vaishnaw, will attend the meeting. During their visit, the ministers will interact with their Singaporean counterparts and leadership.

The ISMR is a unique mechanism established to set a new agenda for India-Singapore bilateral relations. Its inaugural meeting was held in New Delhi in September 2022.

This second meeting will enable both sides to review various aspects of their strategic partnership and identify new avenues to further elevate and broaden it. 

For India, Singapore has been a major source of FDI (foreign direct investment).

In 2023-24, Singapore was the largest source of these inflows, with 11.77 billion dollar investments into Indian markets. The cumulative inflow of FDI from Singapore from April 2000 to March 2024 was 159.94 billion dollars.

In bilateral trade, Singapore was the sixth largest global trade partner of India in 2023-24 with a total trade of 35.61 billion dollars, which accounts for approximately 29 percent of India’s total trade with ASEAN (Association for Southeast Asian Nations). 

India’s exports stood at 14.41 billion dollars, while imports were 21.2 billion dollars. The trade gap is in the favour of Singapore.

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal discussed bilateral trade and investment issues with the global business leaders in Singapore yesterday.

In a statement, Ministry of Commerce and Industry said, during the the meeting, key discussions were held to explore and enhance investment opportunities between India and Singapore, focusing on mutual growth and collaboration across diverse sectors.

The Ministry said that the focus was on exploring investment opportunities in India, leveraging the country’s economic growth, and fostering collaboration across various sectors.

These discussions emphasized scaling up investments including the SME sector.

The Ministry said, These engagements underscore the commitment to strengthening economic ties between India and Singapore for mutual growth and innovation.

The Union Minister also visited the Institute of Technical Education-ITE Headquarters and ITE College Central in Singapore to explore opportunities for collaboration between India and Singapore in developing cutting-edge learning environments.