Transcript of Minister's Doorstop Interview Following the 2nd India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable at Shangri-La Singapore, 26 August 2024

Minister: We just had a very productive, efficient meeting at the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR). Actually, this is the second iteration. The first occurred in September 2022, almost two years ago. Let us start with why India.

First, India has now become the most populous country in the world. India has the fifth largest GDP in the world. It recently overtook the UK, and in fact, if the projections pan out, India would have the third largest GDP in the world at the end of this decade.

India is also an integral economic partner for ASEAN, and obviously for Singapore as well. If you look at the economic figures, in the last two decades, trade with India has gone up by two and a half times. More recently, these trade numbers are trending up significantly. In particular, Singapore is the largest foreign direct investor in India. I think we account for about a quarter of FDI equity flows into India, so we have skin in the game as well, and we certainly have much to gain as the Indian economy develops and increases in sophistication and global prominence.  That is why this meeting is important.

Specifically, we discussed topics under six pillars: first, sustainability; second, digitalisation; third, skills development; fourth, healthcare; fifth, advanced manufacturing, including semiconductors; and lastly, connectivity.

On the digital side, the fact that we have linked our digital payment systems, the UPI in India and PayNow in Singapore, has been a very successful first step. This has potential to grow into a regional instant payment system. Because, in the case of Singapore, we are also connected to Thailand. We are making advances in our interconnectivity with Malaysia, and eventually these separate interoperable systems can grow into a network, which in turn facilitates trade and economic development across the region. We also successfully launched the Electronic Bills of Lading, and this also facilitates cross-border trade.

We had quite a lot of discussion on what more we can do, both in terms of standards, in terms of technology, in order to turbo-charge the economic integration between India and our region. This also contributes to setting global standards, norms, and overall, accelerates economic development by lowering barriers. That was one very useful set of discussions.

On sustainability, we are interested in India's potential as an energy source, in particular green energy. Apart from India selling electricity directly, there are also other energy sources which they can export, through hydrogen or ammonia, and these are nascent areas which will need investment and which will have particular salience for an energy importer like Singapore. That was another area that we had quite extensive discussions on. 

On the pillar of education and skills development, Singapore has helped to establish some training centres in India, but because of a great asymmetry in size, we clearly cannot be rolling out these centres based on our people alone. What we are focusing on is training-the-trainers and on training the certifiers, the people who will assess the standards and assign qualifications to those who graduate from these systems.

There is great admiration for Singapore's education system, for our skills, education and our certification. This is something which should give us a sense of fulfilment and satisfaction. It is due respect to our teachers, our educators, and to the Singapore education system.

On healthcare, we are always on the lookout for well-qualified, well-motivated healthcare professionals, in particular nurses and other healthcare professionals who can complement our teams back in Singapore. That is another area that we are working with the Indians on.

The Indians are quite interested now in advanced manufacturing, and in particular semiconductors. They know that although Singapore is very small, we have a disproportionate share of global semiconductor manufacturing capability, and they are carefully studying our system in terms of its ecosystem. It is not just wafer fabrication alone, but the whole ecosystem of suppliers that feeds into and creates a dynamic and viable digital ecosystem in Singapore. They are also looking for opportunities. On our part, this also presents opportunities to our companies, and our SMEs who are part of this digital ecosystem, to explore opportunities in India which are going to have great, significant growth in both digital and semiconductor manufacturing as well as its services and the export of those services.

On connectivity, India is likely to have tremendous growth in aviation. I think they have ordered 1,000 planes which will be delivered over the years. There will be great opportunities in Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) and other operations in the years to come. It is another niche area in which Singapore has companies which are competitive globally and there will be opportunities for them. 

All in all, it was a good meeting. We conduct (ISMR) in a small group, only Ministers present, so we can be very frank, open, sincere, candid, and it provides a very good format for real engagement of minds and for us to signal unequivocally to each other what our main concerns and our aspirations are, and to set out the agenda for the years to come. We are also working on all this because very shortly, we will be announcing an Official Visit by Prime Minister Modi to Singapore as well. I cannot give you the specific date, but it will occur shortly. I will take some questions now.

Anjali Raguraman (ST): Of all the areas of cooperation identified,  which might we see coming to fruition soonest and which would have a longer tail?

Minister: I will flip the question around to what the results of the first ISMR were, and I would say the link up between the UPI and PayNow was one clear deliverable from the first round of the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable. Similarly, the Electronic Bills of Lading, which facilitates trade, was another early harvest. So this time around, we hope that the other pillars will also come to fruition. For Singapore, our interest is in energy, green energy, additional sources of food and to build up connectivity, air, and maritime lanes. There is quite a lot to look forward to, but a lot of work that will need to be done, not just at the government level, but also companies who are looking for new avenues and new opportunities for growth.

Janarthanan S/O Krishnasamy (TM): Considering the successful launch of PayNow-UPI digital payments linkage, what further steps are being planned to enhance digital connectivity between Singapore and India?

Minister: Yes, I am glad you brought up that question, because in fact, cybersecurity was discussed. The more we move into digital payments and particularly cross-border digital payments, we need to make sure our systems, individually, are robust, safe, and dependable. We need to make sure that the users, not just big banks, but small and medium enterprises, or individuals who are purchasing services and goods are well-informed, and that they know what precautions to take.  Without cyber security, without rules to ensure that there is safety on the digital systems, all the promise that digital trade and the digital economy offers will not be realised. So, we did discuss it, and it is another opportunity to share and exchange ideas on how to improve our systems, our rules, regulations, precautions and interoperability between our systems. If you look  at Singapore, we have bilateral links with India or Thailand, and what you want in the future is that when other countries want to connect,  they do not have to create customised interconnectivities with everyone else in the network; instead,  there is a standardised set and interface, which allows new partners to come on board, link immediately into the network, and to do so in a safe, secure and efficient way.

Janarthanan S/O Krishnasamy (TM): Next question, Sir, I am referring to your interview with The Hindu (Indian media outlet). You said that you remain hopeful for projects besides Amaravati, and that if the project were to continue in the future, it would be an entirely new project from that of five years ago. So my question is, Minister, has it popped up in any discussions so far given that now, there is a very favourable political climate for such an initiative?

Minister: The short answer is, no, it has not come up yet. The longer answer is that political uncertainty and political risk raise the cost of doing business. We will wait and see what ideas emerge, and whatever they may be, due diligence and commercial discipline will have to be exercised to take into account both the economic prospects as well as the political envelope around these economic projects. The larger point is that you do need political stability. You do need predictability. And to the extent that these can be maximised, you encourage, facilitate and accelerate economic development. So far, we have not heard anything yet, but we will wait and see, and we will assess it on its own merits.

Wun Yun Fang (ZB): Minister, you talked about the advanced semiconductor industry in Singapore, as well potential MROs in Singapore. Are there any concrete plans for Singapore and India to collaborate in the two new areas that were identified? For example, will there be more flights? How would that benefit Singaporeans?

Minister: These are the details that we need to sort out. However, we set it up clearly on the agenda. We have identified that these are areas that are of mutual opportunity for both India and Singapore. The fact that a country with more than 1.4 billion people is now embarking on a major upgrade of its aviation sector, this is an opportunity that might only come around once every two to three decades. We are in the front seat and we have the chance to participate, and to do so from a position where they (India) know us.

We are a known, trusted and reliable partner. We need to maintain those attributes, and that puts us in a very competitive position. We are not asking for special favours. We are asking for our companies to be treated fairly and consistently and to be allowed to compete on a level playing field. I'm sure Singapore companies will be able to do so.

Keyla Mercubuwono (Mothership): What are Singapore’s reasons for participating in nuclear energy farming? Will Singapore tap on India's expertise in this field?

Minister: We did not discuss that. I think this is a long way away. Our key focus here is on green energy, and on finding ways to connect India into the ASEAN power grid; to look at green shipping, as well as ammonia and hydrogen. There is more than enough for us to pursue in the short term.

.     .     .     .     .