Singapore is a ‘city that never fails to inspire’: Indian PM Modi

SINGAPORE — Kicking off a three-day official visit to Singapore on Thursday (May 31), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded Singapore as a “city that never fails to inspire”.

Despite being a “small island”, Singapore has maintained strong global links, said the Indian PM.

Speaking at a business event on innovation and entrepreneurship at the Marina Bay Sands, Mr Modi described Singapore as India's key strategic partner, with the focus on economic growth as the “heartbeat” of the relationship between Singapore and India.

Singapore is a “leading investment source and destination for India”, added Mr Modi, who noted that there are about 250 flights in each direction every week between Singapore’s Changi Airport and 60 Indian cities, and that the number is “set to grow”.

Likewise, India is the third largest source of tourists for Singapore.

Singapore is also a key market for smart cities, urban solutions, financial sector, skills development, and aviation, said Mr Modi.

Underlining the close business relationship between both countries, he added: “India and Singapore are contributing to each other’s prosperity.

“This great nation has shown us that size is no barrier to the scale… or a strength of a nation’s voice in the world.”

Highlighting the potential of the digital economy, Mr Modi urged bright young talents in both countries to build a “bridge of innovation and enterprise” between India, Singapore and Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean).

At the event, Mr Modi also witnessed the launch of a slew of initiatives that will boost cooperation in financial technology and innovation between Singapore and India. They included the launch of the partnership between Singapore's NETS and India's RuPay digital payments systems.

Last November, NETS announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), an umbrella organisation for all retail payments and settlement systems in India, to enable cross border usage of their payment solutions in India and Singapore.

The agreement will pave the way for NETS cards and digital wallets to be used for payments in India, and for RuPay-powered debit and credit cards to be accepted at all NETS terminals in Singapore.

“Together, we can build a great economic partnership of the new age… (and this brings a) new global frontier of opportunity,” said Mr Modi. His speech on Thursday night also touched on India’s economic reforms, infrastructural development, and rapid growth in the digital transaction sphere.

Prior to the speech, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong accompanied Mr Modi as they visited booths of local and Indian start-ups in areas such as artificial intelligence, fintech and cyber security.

Minister for Communications and Information S Iswaran also noted at the event that there is significant potential for greater collaboration between Singaporean and Indian start-ups, particularly as India’s start-up scene has seen a boom in the last decade. It is now the world’s third largest start-up eco-system, said Mr Iswaran.

The minister also added that Mr Modi had also referred to Singapore and India as an “exciting incubator” and “vast laboratory”, respectively, during a visit here in 2015.

Mr Iswaran said that the adoption of frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, as well as innovation and social impact is a “testament of the sheer scope of collaboration between India and Singapore, in this exciting space of start-ups”.

This is Mr Modi’s second official visit to Singapore since coming to power in 2014.

He had arrived earlier this week in Indonesia for a first-ever official visit before making a brief stopover in Malaysia on Thursday to meet newly-elected Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

On Friday (June 1), Mr Modi will make a courtesy call on President Halimah Yacob at the Istana, where he will also be hosted to an official lunch by PM Lee.

Mr Modi will then visit the Nanyang Technological University to interact with students and witness the signing of joint projects in education and research, before delivering the keynote address at the 17th International Institute for Strategic Studies Shangri-La Dialogue in the evening.

On Saturday, Mr Modi will visit the Singapore Botanic Gardens, where he will witness an orchid being named in his honour.