India outpaces China in trade with Singapore, says trade delegate

Mumbai, May 27 (UNI) The Indo-Singapore trade has touched a new peak with the growth rate of Singapore's trade with India outpacing that of China.

This information was revealed by Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) Executive Director Pradeep Menon here yesterday at an interactive meeting of a 45-member Singaporean business delegation.

The meet was organised by Indian Merchants' Chamber (IMC) and sponsored by the SICCI and Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI).

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Menon said, ''India is surging, and we in Singapore want to play a part in its growth by contributing our enterprise and capital.'' The trade delegation was the largest ever from the island nation to visit India so far. It had already visited Chennai and Pune and held extensive discussions with businessmen there and was in the metropolis to explore business opportunities in Mumbai, he said.

Members of the delegation representing 52 industries held one-on-one parleys with potential partners in Indian industries for exploring business opportunities.

Mr Menon said that Singapore's trade with India has recently touched nearly US 10 billion dollars, while that with China is about USD 30 billion.

''The Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) between India and Singapore had indeed laid the foundation for future growth of business partnership between the two countries,'' he added.

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