TRADE and investments between Singapore and India, which have increased tremendously with the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) in August 2005, can grow even more, Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Raymond Lim said yesterday.

Mr Lim: 'Much more can be done in partnership with India.'

Speaking at the 'Maharashtra Vision: Mission II' conference in Mumbai, Mr Lim said since the agreement, trade between the two nations has increased 70 per cent to over US$13 billion last year. In 2006, Singapore also became India's third-largest foreign direct investor, with investments of US$600 million.

Moreover, more than 650,000 Indians visited Singapore in 2006, making India the fourth-largest contributor of tourism receipts. The number of Indian companies in Singapore has grown by over 50 per cent in the last two years.

'While business development is encouraging, we believe much more can be done in partnership with India,' Mr Lim said.

He highlighted the infrastructure sector as one area where Singapore companies can make further contributions, noting that the Indian government has pledged to double its infrastructure budget to US$320 billion by 2012 to continue the country's remarkable economic growth.

Local companies in the water and waste-water technology sector like Keppel Integrated Engineering and SembCorp Utilities have developed infrastructure development expertise which can be shared with India. 'They are also very interested to explore water and waste-water project opportunities in India,' Mr Lim said. Hyflux, for example, has an agreement with the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to set up a water and effluent treatment plant in Gujarat.

Airport development is another area where Singaporean companies can offer expertise to India.

The Singapore Airport Consortium, formed in 2004 to combine expertise for the development of Changi Airport, 'is able to offer a complete suite of products, services and solutions to foreign airport developers keen to share Changi's success model', said Mr Lim.

Recently, Changi Airport International signed a memorandum of understanding with Tata Realty and Infrastructure to bid jointly for airport projects in India.

'The potential for win-win infrastructure collaboration between our companies is set to multiply', Mr Lim said.

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