Singapore PM's vote of confidence: 'India's growth prospects strong, will keep investing'

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has said that his country continues to have confidence in India's economy and will keep investing in it, describing India's long-term growth trajectory as strong and resilient. "With investments, they are never a safe bet. If you want a safe bet, then you don't make any money. You must take risks. And there will always be short-term volatility. We try to take a long-term perspective and from that point of view, we are optimistic about India's growth prospects because of youth, young population, rising middle class, dynamic tax sector, and importantly a government that's committed to reforms," Wong said in an interview with Hindustan Times.

He added that Singapore's confidence in India was not a recent turn but based on a "proven track record and actions." "Our confidence in India is not new. It's longstanding and it's backed by a proven track record and actions. We had a SICA agreement 20 years ago and now since then our trade has grown by two and a half times. Singapore is the largest investor in India for seven consecutive years now. So we will continue to invest in India. We will continue to have confidence in India's prospects for the future," he said.

On the future of Singaporean investments in India, Wong said that sectoral choices would remain private-sector driven. "As to what in industries and what areas, we have to leave it to the private sector. The government itself is not investing. We set the conditions, we set the framework. We provide the overall environment for businesses and investors to come together. And I think there will be many opportunities opening up. From what we understand, when we engage businesses and investors in Singapore, there's a lot of interest for example in areas like hospitality, advanced manufacturing, sustainability, logistics. So these are all areas potentially where we can see more investment flows coming into India from Singapore," he said.

The Singaporean Prime Minister outlined three areas of cooperation in semiconductors, following discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Singapore last year. He said Singapore is supporting India's development of skills in this area, including discussing the potential of doing a joint skills training center in Gujarat for semiconductors. 

He explained why Singapore was interested in supporting India's rise in the semiconductor value chain. He offered three reasons. First, he said, semiconductors are important in today's economy. "And given the strategic importance of semiconductors, we do want in the world a more diversified and resilient supply chain and India can contribute to this." 

"Second, we have companies in Singapore that are interested in the opportunities that India offers. Many of the semiconductor players in Singapore are leading global companies. We have Singapore suppliers that are part of that semiconductor ecosystem - and they are very keen to see how they can come to India and forge links with Indian players and have opportunities here to grow their business."

"Thirdly, I would say a strong and rising India contributes to stability, resilience, and shared prosperity in Asia. And that opens up new opportunities not just for India itself but for its partners around the region. And that’s why we are keen to see how we in Singapore can play a part in supporting India’s development in this industry,” he said.

On ASEAN ties with India, Wong described the partnership as civilisational and strategic. "We believe the ASEAN-India relationship is a very important and critical one. These are long-standing ties, civilizational ties grounded on trade and cultural exchanges over a long period of time. We want to have closer ties between ASEAN and India." 

At the strategic level, Wong added, the ASEAN-India ties are of critical importance because the center of gravity of the global economy will, over time, shift toward Asia. "Within Asia, we already have China as one growth engine. India will be the second growth engine. There's no doubt. We think that ASEAN can be the third. So it's within that context that there is a strategic imperative for closer ASEAN-India ties. And we want to encourage India to continue with its Act East policy, and Singapore will do our part to facilitate these closer links between India and ASEAN."