India-Singapore Exchange Multiple MoUs Ranging From Semiconductors To Digital Technologies

The exchange of MoUs was carried out by the External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

New Delhi: India and Singapore signed four Memorandum of Understandings on Thursday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Singaporean counterpart Lawrence Wong and elevated their bilateral ties to a "comprehensive strategic partnership". The exchange of MoUs was carried out by the External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.

The first MoU was signed between the Ministry of Digital Development and Information of Singapore and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of India on cooperation in the field of digital technologies.

It will facilitate closer cooperation between India and Singapore in digital technologies, such as DPI, Cyber-security, 5G and emerging technologies such as Super-computing, Quantum Computing and Artificial Intelligence.

This MoU enables cooperation for upskilling and reskilling of workers relating to the digital domain under the ambit of this MoU on the India-Singapore Semiconductor Ecosystem Partnership. India and Singapore will cooperate in the areas of semiconductor cluster development, and the cultivation of talent in semiconductor design and manufacturing.

Singaporean companies which are part of global semiconductor value chains are keen to invest in India. Dialogue mechanisms set under this MoU will facilitate their investments in India, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India and the Ministry of Health of Singapore exchanged MoU on Cooperation in Health and Medicine. It will facilitate joint efforts on research and innovation in areas of mutual interest. It also aims to promote closer cooperation in the areas of human resource development in the healthcare and pharmaceuticals sector. It will complement our efforts to promote Indian healthcare professionals in Singapore.

Both India and Singapore finally exchanged an MoU on Educational Cooperation and Skills Development. It aims to promote closer cooperation in the areas of Technical and Vocational Education and Training. India and Singapore have active collaboration in the area of skill development. This MoU will complement those ongoing initiatives.

Singapore an inspiration: Modi

During his opening remarks, Prime Minister Modi said Singapore is not only a partner nation but it is an inspiration for every developing country. In his opening remarks, he thanked Wong for the warm welcome.

"This is our first meeting after you assumed the post of premier. Many congratulations to you from my side. I am confident that under the leadership of 4G (the fourth-generation leaders), Singapore will progress even faster," Modi said.

"We also want to create many Singapores in India and I am happy that we are working together in this direction. The ministerial roundtable that has been formed between us is a path-breaking mechanism."

"The discussions with my friend, PM Lawrence Wong continued today. Our talks focused on boosting cooperation in areas like skilling, technology, healthcare, AI and more. We both agreed on the need to boost trade relations," Modi said in a post on X after the talks.

Modi is here on a two-day visit at the invitation of Wong. He arrived in Singapore on Wednesday. Singapore is India's largest trading partner in the ASEAN. It is India’s sixth largest trading partner worldwide and accounts for 3.2 per cent of India’s overall trade. After the two countries signed the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) in 2005, trade increased from $6.7 billion that year to $35.6 billion in 2022-23.

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