SINGAPORE – India and Singapore exchanged agreements on Sept 5 to help firms in the Republic tap into India’s growing semiconductor industry and tighten digital links between the two countries.
They will also be stepping up cooperation in areas such as skills development and healthcare.
Four memoranda of understanding were exchanged at Parliament House, witnessed by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is here on an official visit.
These were first signed by Singapore ministers and their Indian counterparts on the sidelines of the second edition of the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR), which was held at Shangri-La Singapore on Aug 26.
Mr Modi, who is in Singapore for two days, earlier received a ceremonial welcome by PM Wong at Parliament House.
Semiconductors
India aims to grow its semiconductor industry and become a global node for semiconductor manufacturing, while players in Singapore’s established ecosystem are looking to enter emerging markets.
The MOU in this area will see both countries partnering to support India’s growth plans and facilitate the entry of Singapore companies and supply chains in the Indian market.
It was signed between Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
The partnership includes government-led policy exchanges on ecosystem development, supply chain resilience, and workforce development.
Semiconductors and advance manufacturing were identified as new areas for bilateral collaboration at the second ISMR dialogue between ministers.
Digital technologies
To encourage greater interoperability between Singapore and India’s digital economies, an agreement was inked in the field of digital technologies. This includes the exchange of knowledge and expertise on digital public infrastructure such as digital IDs, payments and data exchange.
The MOU was signed between Singapore’s Ministry of Digital Development and Information and India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information.
This builds upon existing cooperation efforts such as the real-time payment systems linkage between Singapore’s PayNow with India’s Unified Payments Interface launched in Feb 2023.
This allows bank customers in Singapore and India to send and receive funds in their bank accounts and e-wallets instantly across the two countries.
Singapore and India banks and companies also pioneered a fully paperless transaction process involving traders, shippers, and banks in Aug 2023, which showcased the digitalisation of cross border trade financing documentation using the TradeTrust framework.
Both sides are also working to update and renew a 2015 agreement on cybersecurity cooperation between the Singapore Cyber Emergency Response Team and India’s Computer Emergency Response Team.
Singapore, India exchange agreements to tighten links in semiconductors, digital tech
