A Business and Innovation Summit on India held on 9th and 10th September 2019, Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore
- The High Commission of India in Singapore organised a two-day Business and Innovation Summit, “India-Singapore: The Next Phase”, on 9-10 September 2019 at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore.
2. The Summit followed Government’s 100 days in office, Prime Minister Modi’s articulation of his vision and road map for a New India and announcement of a series of priorities, policies and initiatives to accelerate economic growth to achieve the target of a USD 5 trillion economy in 2024 and expand modernisation, access and inclusion.
3. It was a platform to project government’s strategic outlook and economic agenda and provided opportunities for investors, companies and startups in and operating out of Singapore to interact with policy makers as well as corporate and tech leaders from India and enhance their profile and presence in the Southeast Asia’s regional hub; and, accelerate the momentum in India-Singapore economic partnership.
4. Singapore is a key economic partner for India, the leading source of foreign investment, a major financial market for Indian companies, and a partner in areas of India’s development priorities like urban development, skills and infrastructure. It is also emerging as a major startup and innovation hub with growing links to India. Many global companies invest or manage their operations in India, through their regional headquarters in Singapore.
5. The Summit had two inter-related conferences: • “India-Singapore: The Next Phase” – A business event that focused on core areas, including the financial sector, infra-structure, urban development, real estate, logistics, regional trade, water, agro-tech and food processing, and skills development. These wide ranging themes are the drivers of the partnership between India and Singapore and the business summit set the stage for taking strategic and economic ties to a new level. The objective of the business summit was to set the agenda and momentum for the next five years.
• InSpreneur 3.0: InSpreneur 3.0 is the third edition of the India-Singapore Innovation and start-up plat-form launched by the High Commission of India in January 2018. InSpreneur has evolved into a vibrant forum for entrepreneurs and innovators from India and Singapore to interact with each other and connect with investors and market enablers to establish new partnerships of innovation and enterprise and power their partnership in the digital age. This edition focused on fintech, SMEs digital platforms, connecting start-ups in India and ASEAN, cyber security, artificial intelligence, future of data, Industry 4.0, and health and bio biotech.
6. The main highlights of the event:
• 90 speakers from government, business and technology sectors from India and Singapore spoke in 25 sessions. In addition, there was an expert round table on water. In all, nearly 30 officials from different departments of Central and State Governments in India participated.
• An Exhibition featuring over 80 startups, including 65 from India and 20 from Singapore took place. In addition, there was about 10 incubators from India and Singapore. Indian startups were selected from over 150 who had registered interest.
• As a part of the event, there was bilateral meetings and small round tables.
• Ministerial Plenary on India-Singapore: The Next Phase of Strategic Partnership, took place at 9.15 am on September 9th. It was a conversation between Dr S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister, India & Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Singapore; and moderated by Professor Tommy Koh, Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
• Ministerial Plenary on India – Singapore: The Economic Agenda, took place on September 10th at 9-00 am with Mr Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister (Independent Charge), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of Civil Aviation & State, Ministry of Commerce & Industry and Mr Chee Hong Tat Senior Minister of State for Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Education, Singapore.
7• There were State Delegations from Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab & Uttarakhand. Andhra Pradesh delegation was led by Finance Minister and the Odisha delegation was led by Minister of State (Independent Charge) for MSME, Industries and Energy and MOS for Home.
• Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Data Security Council of India (DSCI) brought delegations from India.
• Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), Department of Science and Technology, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Invest India and Startup participated.
• From Singapore, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Enterprise Singapore (a Singapore Government agency to support Singapore businesses abroad) and Monetary Authority of Singapore supported the event. Participating organisations included Singapore Business Federation, Singapore Manufacturing Federation and other chambers.
Source: Press release by theHigh Commission of India Singapore on 5.9.2019