Singapore Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law K. Shanmugham met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa at the Secretariat here on Friday.
Ms. Jayalalithaa called for significant synergy between the two sides, especially in the development of a financial city in Chennai, industrial parks and ports and infrastructure development.
Ms. Jayalalithaa said Tamil Nadu looked forward to more investment and expertise from Singapore to realise its goals set out in the Tamil Nadu ‘Vision 2023’ Document. The development of a financial city in Chennai could complement the other regional financial centres.
The development of the Madurai-Tuticorin industrial corridor, provision of urban infrastructure and services such as intelligent transport solutions, solid and liquid waste management, desalination, and tourism were the other areas wherein Singapore could contribute to the development of Tamil Nadu, she said.
Mr. Shanmugham said Tamil Nadu remained one of the top three destinations for Singapore’s investment in India and agreed with the Chief Minister that the ties needed to be deepened and expanded. In Tamil Nadu’s strong manufacturing base and Singapore’s strength as a financial centre with a large pool of funds looking for an outlet, there was potential for deeper ties.
He said the Chief Minister’s personal vision was one of the factors that would fuel the engagement as he mentioned some big ticket investments made by Singapore in Tamil Nadu in the recent past.
Finance Minister O. Panneerselvam, Industries Minister P. Thangamani, Chief Secretary Mohan Verghese Chunkath, formed part of the Tamil Nadu delegation.
The Singapore team included High Commissioner to India Lim Thuan Kwan; Consul-General in Chennai Roy Kho; Director-General, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Laurence Bay; and Country Officer Charlene Chan.
