India-Singapore ministerial spherical desk these days, center of attention on bettering bilateral business and funding – Business Information

Four senior ministers of the central government will be in Singapore on Monday for the second meeting of the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR). The delegation includes external affairs minister S Jaishankar, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal and minister of electronics and information technology Ashwani Vaishnaw.

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal will engage with key global business leaders, ahead of ISMR. These meetings will include discussions with representatives from DBS Bank, Temasek Holdings, OMERS, Keppel Infrastructure and the Owners Forum. The focus will be on enhancing bilateral trade and investment, leveraging India’s growing market potential and dynamic economic trajectory, according to a statement from the commerce and industry ministry.

The ISMR, established in 2022, aims to elevate bilateral relations between India and Singapore. The inaugural meeting, held on September 17, 2022, in New Delhi, concentrated on emerging sectors such as digital connectivity, fintech, the green economy, green hydrogen, skill development, and food security. Notably, during the first ISMR, a FinTech Cooperation Agreement was signed between the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) in Gujarat.

India and Singapore maintain robust trade and economic ties, bolstered by the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that has been in effect since 2005. Bilateral trade has significantly increased since the agreement, growing from $6.7 billion in 2004-05 to $35.6 billion in 2023-24. India’s exports to Singapore totaled $14.4 billion, while imports amounted to $21.1 billion.

Singapore is also a major source of foreign direct investment (FDI) for India. In 2023-24, Singapore was the largest source of FDI, with an estimated $11.77 billion in inflows. The cumulative FDI inflow from Singapore to India from April 2000 to March 2024 stands at approximately $159.94 billion.