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Long-running relations with India benefit Singapore firms: Premier Lee

SINGAPORE Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong says "substantial?benefits from good relations developed over time with India have cascaded down to Singapore.

Residents have gained from jobs created by Indian firms and businesses by winning a slice of the multibillion-dollar infrastructure pie in Andhra Pradesh for Singapore companies, he said.

The premier's comments to the Singapore media come after his five-day official visit to India where more bilateral agreements and partnerships were announced, reported TODAY Online.

"Because we have been pursuing our relationship with India over these many years ... our business relationships have grown. We have got [Singapore] companies, which are [in India]. And Indian companies have also come to Singapore and invested in Singapore, and created jobs for Singaporeans," said Mr Lee.

While India's economy has yet to reach the heights that many had hoped it would, Mr Lee reiterated his belief in the potential of the South Asian nation.

Asked whether Singapore is hedging its bets on India fully realising its economic potential after several false starts, Mr Lee said: "I wouldn't say I am hedging my bets, I am trying to bet on all the good horses."

Acknowledging that India has had "fits and starts, Mr Lee said: "If you compare it to where they were back in 1990, when Dr Manmohan Singh was Finance Minister and started the liberalisation under Prime Minister Narashima Rao, I think they have made a lot of progress ... Of course, we still see many difficulties ahead but we believe that there are opportunities and we would like to work on it with them."

Mr Lee witnessed during his visit the exchange of several bilateral agreements on skills development, including one to build a skills centre in the north-east state of Assam.

"Our Institute of Technical Education has got the know-how, so we share our know-how with them as goodwill ... These are things in which you need a baseline of interaction and goodwill in order for other good things to happen," said Mr Lee.

One of the goals of his visit was to give Singapore's Indian partners "an extra push" even as Singapore-India collaborations pick up pace since the Strategic Partnership was established last November.

Mr Lee hopes the ongoing review of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement launched in May 2010 can be wrapped up soon. The review had been held up by several problems, including bottlenecks faced by some Indian banks and professionals wanting to move to Singapore.