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– Vipin Chandran

Dr Balaji Sadasivan, Senior Minister of State for External Affairs, Singapore, addressing a meeting at the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Kochi on Monday.

Our Bureau

Kochi, June 23

The Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Monday organised a business meet in connection with the visit of a business delegation from the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Dr Balaji Sadasivan, Senior Minister of State for External Affairs, Singapore, was the guest of honour. The Singapore business delegation, led by the Minister included Mr Vijaya Iyengar, Chairman of the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Mr Ajit Singh, Consul General of Singapore in Chennai.

Dr Sadasivan said on the occasion that he was impressed by the tremendous pool of talent available in Kerala, which is a big force for economic development. Kerala, with its pace of social development, has made considerable progress in developing tourism and information technology sectors. Singapore has been looking to countries like China and India for opportunities, he added.

He said that Gujarat and Kerala were the targeted States of this business delegation. The reason for including Kerala is that a lot of people from the State are engaged in economic related activities in Singapore. It is also planning for tie-ups in the health sector and joint ventures in agro-based industries, infrastructure development etc.

Welcoming the delegation, the Chamber President, Mr R. Mohandas, said that Kerala offers vast opportunities for investment by Singapore in areas such as biotechnology, major and minor ports development, road infrastructure, information technology, health and health tourism, construction activities and education. Even an exclusive Singapore Development Zone in Kochi can be considered, he said.

Mr Predeep Menon, CEO and Executive Director of the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that this was the first official business delegation from Singapore to Kerala in recent times.

The delegation visited only Kochi on this trip and that during the coming visits other cities such Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode would be on the itinerary.

Earlier, the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation held an interactive session with the visiting Singapore delegation.

The Secretary (Industries), Mr P.H. Kurien, Mr Manoj Joshi, MD, KSIDC, and other senior officials were present. A presentation on investment opportunities in Kerala was made by KSIDC followed by the interactive session.

A number of business opportunities were discussed, notable among them were Free Trade Warehousing Zone, IT parks, Biopolis, Science Park etc.

More Stories on : Foreign Trade | Kerala

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