Mr Lim Hng Kiang at the Launch of the India Business Forum

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.