Singapore companies are being encouraged to invest in infrastructure development in the Delhi-Mumbai corridor (DMIC), Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridor (CBIC), the Northeast and in the Buddhist circuit, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said on Tuesday following external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj’s meeting with her Singapore counterpart K Shanmugam.

India also plans to get Singapore on board to participate in the smart cities project as part of DMIC, the MEA said.
In a meeting largely focused on economic and trade-related issues, the two ministers also discussed urban delivery projects. India will learn from the best practices of such projects in Singapore, according to the MEA.

The city-state has the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) flow to India. Last year, it was also the destination of the largest foreign investment abroad from India. In terms of trade engagements, India has the largest trading relationship with Singapore in the ASEAN (association of southeast Asian nations) bloc.

The MEA has also accepted taking part in the 50th anniversary celebration of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Singapore on August 16 this year. Besides state visits, stamps and publications will be released to mark the occasion.

The island-nation plans a yearlong celebration starting August, celebrating one aspect of the India-Singapore relationship every month. There will also be people-to-people exchanges.

MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said, since “skill, scale (and) speed is the focus of the new government”, the government plans to pursue an MoU signed in 2012 to set up a world-class skill institute in New Delhi.