MTI seeks to correct misperceptions on India-Singapore free trade deal — for the second time in 9 months

• It is untrue that the Singapore-India free trade agreement allows Indian nationals to become permanent residents and citizens in Singapore, MTI said
• It is the second time in nine months that it has clarified misperceptions over Ceca
• MTI also said it is not true that Ceca requires Singapore to automatically grant Employment Passes to Indian nationals
• Intra-corporate transferees in Singapore have consistently been below 5 per cent of all Employment Pass holders here
• Indian nationals constitute only a small segment of this group

SINGAPORE — The Government has come out to debunk misperceptions about Singapore’s free trade agreement with India, the second time it has done so in nine months.

In a statement on Thursday (Aug 27), the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said that there is no provision in the India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (Ceca) that allows Indian nationals to take up citizenship in Singapore.

“It is not true that under Ceca, Indian nationals can come to Singapore and become permanent residents and citizens. There is no such provision in Ceca,” MTI said in its statement.

The statement was in response to media queries on whether Ceca gives Indian nationals automatic access to citizenship, permanent resident status and employment in Singapore.

It was the second time in nine months that the Government had come out to clarify misperceptions about the free trade agreement, which came into force in 2005.

Last November, Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing had said that Ceca did not grant Indian nationals unconditional access into Singapore.

He was speaking after a video of an Indian man shouting expletives at a condominium security guard went viral, garnering criticism from Singaporeans. The Ministry of Home Affairs later said that the man had obtained his citizenship under the Family Ties scheme when he married a Singapore-born citizen.

At the time, Mr Chan said claims that Ceca had cost Singaporeans job opportunities were aimed at stoking fear during times of economic uncertainty.

In its statement on Thursday, MTI said that Singaporeans are “understandably concerned” with competition from foreign professionals, managers and executives (PMEs) given the challenging economic and employment situation.

However, it is “misleading” to attribute the number of Indian PMEs, especially intra-corporate transferees, solely or mainly to Ceca, it said.

The ministry added that it is not true that Ceca requires Singapore to automatically grant Employment Passes to PMEs from India. 

“None of our free trade agreements, including Ceca, obliges us to automatically grant Employment Passes to any foreign national,” MTI said.

“All foreign nationals applying for Employment Passes must meet our prevailing criteria, and all companies must comply with rules on fair hiring,” the ministry added.

The Ministry of Manpower said that there were 193,700 Employment Pass holders as of December last year. These passes are issued to foreign PMEs and they need to earn at least $3,900 a month and have acceptable qualifications.

MTI said that anyone seeking to enter Singapore as an intra-corporate transferee under Ceca must meet prevailing work pass rules. This applies for transferees coming in under any other free trade agreement.

It added that intra-corporate transferees in Singapore have consistently been below 5 per cent of all Employment Pass holders in Singapore, and they come from a wide range of source countries, with Indian nationals constituting only a small segment.