The Hindu Business Line : Panel to catalyse Singapore investments in India set up

A NEW panel, in the name and style of the Network India Real Estate and Finance Sub-Committee, was launched as part of an ongoing multi-channel business conference known as `Global Entrepolis 2004' in Singapore today.

The objective is to spur the Singapore-based companies to widen their interest and expand their investments in India, with particular reference to the real estate and financial sectors there. Network India, a private sector forum under the overall auspices of International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, has been in existence for nearly two years, and its mandate is to help catalyse investment flows, across the business spectrum, into the Indian market.

The new panel comprises representatives from both Singapore-based firms and Indian companies. It is headed by the Ascendas' President and Chief Executive Officer, Ms Chong Siak Ching, and Standard Chartered's Singapore Country and Regional Head of Global Markets for South East Asia, Mr Lee Boon Huat.

Formally launching the panel, Singapore's Minister of State for Trade and Industry, Mr Heng Chee How, noted that the wave of India's interest in overseas markets, set in motion by its companies in the sectors of information technology and pharmaceuticals, had now spread to active acquisitions by Indian industries in other fields too. The reference was to the current process of acquisition of NatSteel's steel business in Asia by Tata Steel at an estimated value of over $200 million.

Given this new outreach by India and the ranking of India at the 34th place in the World Competitiveness Yearbook for 2004, the largest jump of 16 places by any country among those ranked, the Minister outlined the rationale of the new panel with reference to the growth sectors of real estate and finance in India itself.

Mr Sat Pal Khattar, Network India Chairman, said Singapore-based enterprises "have the necessary expertise to make a meaningful contribution" in India's real estate and financial sectors.

IE Singapore placed India's real estate market at about $12 billion now and pointed to the expectations of a 30-per-cent annual growth. "India also has one of the most mature financial markets in the developing world," with assets of the banking sector being of the order of $270 billion on the basis of a deposit spread of nearly $220 billion.

While two India-specific events were held at the conference - the India IT Forum, for the first time, and the Network India-TiE Asia Pacific Conference - the Singapore Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr Lim Hng Kiang, who opened an `Enterprise Exchange' as part of `Global Entrepolis 2004', said the city state was increasingly playing the role of a launch pad for Indian companies for their entry into the global economy. Singapore was playing a similar role in respect of China.

The number of Indian firms in Singapore today was of the order of 1,500, including 18 Nasscom software companies, it was noted. Setting the tone for interactions at the India IT Forum, India's High Commissioner to Singapore, Mr Alok Prasad, said that 40 per cent of the overall Indian trade flows could now be traced to the "extended" East Asian region. He expressed the hope that the India-Singapore comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA) could be firmed up by the end of this year.