FM Sitharaman arrives in Singapore for 2nd India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable

Singapore, Aug 25 (IANS) Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman arrived in Singapore on Sunday to attend the 2nd India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable, where she will be joined by three more senior colleagues, including External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar. 

Sitharaman was welcomed at the Changi International Airport by Singapore’s High Commissioner to India Simon Wong and India's Deputy High Commissioner Pooja Tillu, the Finance Ministry said in a post on X.

The 2nd round of the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable will be held on Monday and apart from the Finance Minister and the External Affairs Minister, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Railways, Information and Broadcasting, and Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the MEA said in a statement.

During their visit, the Ministers will interact with their counterparts and will also call on Singaporean leadership.

According to the MEA, 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 meeting will enable both sides to review various aspects of their Strategic Partnership and identify new avenues to further elevate and broaden it, it said.

Commerce and Industry Minister Goyal, who is already in the southeast Asian country, posted on X: "Wrapped up a very fruitful day in Singapore today, with interactions and discussions with leaders of major global investment firms having over US$ 500 billion of assets under management."

"Positioned India as an attractive investment destination and invited these multinationals to be a part of our development journey."

Minister Goyal said that it "was a pleasure to meet Ms. Cindy Lim, CEO of Infrastructure at global asset manager and operator, Keppel" and they "discussed the company's investment plans in India to support sustainable development through decarbonisation and help accelerate India's target of achieving net zero carbon emissions".

He also met Ashish Goyal, Executive Vice President and Head, Asia Pacific of pension fund, OMERS, and "discussed their current and future investment strategies for India and ways to further strengthen India's investment-friendly climate".

A major source of FDI for India, Singapore, in 2023-24, was the largest contributor with an estimated $11.77 billion in inflows. The cumulative inflow of FDI from Singapore from April 2000 to March 2024 is around $159.94 billion. In bilateral trade, Singapore was the 6th largest global trade partner of India in 2023-24 with a total trade of $35.61 billion which accounts for approximately 29 per cent of India’s total trade with ASEAN.