India and Singapore strengthen ties with 4 key MoUs
India and Singapore have deepened their bilateral relationship with the exchange of four significant Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the island nation on Thursday. The agreements, signed at Singapore’s Parliament House, cover cooperation in digital technologies, the semiconductor sector, health and medicine, and education and skills development.
The MoUs were signed by India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, in the presence of Prime Ministers Modi and Lawrence Wong.
The first MoU involves collaboration between India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Singapore’s Ministry of Digital Development and Information. This agreement targets advancements in digital public infrastructure, cybersecurity, 5G, super-computing, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and workforce upskilling in the digital sector.
The second MoU focuses on the semiconductor industry, establishing a partnership for the India-Singapore semiconductor ecosystem. This agreement aims to facilitate cooperation in semiconductor cluster development and talent cultivation, with Singaporean companies poised to invest in India. The MoU includes dialogue mechanisms to streamline these investments.
A third MoU, signed between the health ministries of both nations, emphasizes joint research, innovation, and human resource development in healthcare and pharmaceuticals. This agreement seeks to bolster cooperative efforts in these critical areas.
The final MoU, between India’s Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Singapore’s Ministry of Education, is designed to enhance collaboration in technical and vocational education, building on existing skill development initiatives.
Following the MoU signings, Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Wong visited AEM Holdings Ltd’s semiconductor facility in Singapore. The visit highlighted the potential for synergy between India’s abundant land and skilled labor with Singapore’s advanced semiconductor industry.
Singapore’s semiconductor sector, encompassing IC design, assembly and testing, wafer fabrication, and equipment manufacturing, stands to benefit from India’s expanding role in this field. The visit underscored opportunities for talent development, knowledge sharing, and investment by Singaporean companies in India’s semiconductor landscape.
