SPEECH BY MR LIM HNG
KIANG, MINISTER FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, AT THE LAUNCH OF
THE INDIA BUSINESS FORUM, ON
WEDNESDAY 20 JUNE
2007 AT 1240
HOURS AT GOODWOOD PARK HOTEL
Your Excellency Minister Pranab
Mukherjee,
Distinguished
guests,
Ladies and
gentlemen,
I am delighted to be
here today at this event that has brought together the top Indian
businesses in Singapore.
It gives me great
pleasure to welcome Minister Mukherjee, who has taken time out from
his brief visit to Singapore
to
officiate at today’s launch of the India Business Forum (IBF). I
will keep my remarks short so that we can have more time to listen
to Minister Murkerjee.
The establishment of
the IBF is a timely one. Over the last few years, we have witnessed
the economic renaissance of India.
As part of this resurgence, we are also seeing the rising trend of
internationalization among Indian companies. Here in
Singapore,
there has been a surge in the number of Indian companies setting up
their operations here. Back in 2001, there were only about 1,100
Indian companies in Singapore.
But by the end of last year, there were almost 2,600 Indian
firms—more than a twofold increase within these 5 years. This makes
Indian companies one of the largest contingent of foreign companies
in Singapore
today.
These companies span
a diverse spectrum of businesses — IT services, education,
logistics and manufacturing just to name a few
sectors.
These companies’
presence are not just restricted to Singapore.
Many of these companies — probably companies belonging to many of
you who are present today-- have established regional HQs here in
Singapore to launch your companies into other parts of the Asia
Pacific region. Your experiences have earned you a wealth of local
business knowledge, and I applaud the 25 member companies of IBF
for coming forth to share your experiences with each other. With
your diversity and collective wealth of experience, the IBF can
grow to become a valuable clearinghouse of business knowledge for
the rest of the business community.
The strong and
growing presence of Indian companies in Singapore
is the
best testament to the deepening economic linkages between
India
and
Singapore.
Looking ahead to the future, I am confident that the successes of
your member companies will serve as further inspiration for other
Indian companies to come to Singapore.
I also understand
that the IBF aims to become the corporate voice of
India
in
Singapore
and I
share in your aspiration. I look forward to receiving your
constructive proposals and valuable opinions on how to
improve Singapore's
business operating environment.
The global economy
today is a sea of activity as companies and people constantly move
around the world to fish for new opportunities. Among all this
flux, it will be crucial to develop strong and enduring anchors
around which India
and
Singapore
can
engage, network, and establish strong people-to-people
relationships. I hope that the IBF can be one such
anchor.
Forums like the IBF
will play a pivotal role in bringing our people closer together and
enhance our mutual understanding of each other. I am confident that
we will see many more such forums and platforms in future as
Singapore
continues
to deepen our special friendship with India.
In conclusion, I hope
that IBF will serve as a bridge between our business communities
where both Singaporean and Indian companies can network, strengthen
old friendships and build new ones.
Thank you and I wish
all of you a very successful and productive
forum.