Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the setting up of an Invest India Office in Singapore, which will be hand-holding office for Singaporean investors in diverse areas, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.

Citing the “fast and folding opportunities” in India, MEA Secretary East, Jaideep Mazumdar, said it is an “opportune time” for the CEOs of leading companies in Singapore to get first-hand understanding from PM Modi on what is being offered by India.

He also elaborated on the various meetings and interactions by Prime Minister Modi during his two-day visit to the island nation.

“Four MOUs were exchanged, and these are in cooperation in semiconductor ecosystem, in digital technologies, in skill development and education, and in health care. The next stage in our bilateral relations has been set by the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable that met recently and which identified six pillars of our futuristic cooperation, and the above 4 MOUs address 4 of those six pillars,” said in a special briefing.

“India and Singapore relations have been made future ready and accordingly, both Prime Ministers decided to elevate the relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership,” he added.

Mazumdar informed about PM Modi’s announcement on ‘Invest India Office’ in Singapore.

“To boost trade and investment, PM also announced setting up of an Invest India Office in Singapore, which will be hand-holding office for investors from Singapore in many diverse areas of interest identified in the 6 pillars above,” he stated.

The MEA also informed that later in the day, PM Modi will be visiting the CEOs of leading Singaporean companies, who have “substantial investment” in India and are looking to scale up their presence.

“Looking at the fast and folding opportunities in India, this is an opportune time for the CEOs to have these first-hand understanding from India’s Prime Minister as to what is being offered by India, its political stability, policy predictability, and the freshly-oriented, reform-oriented economic agenda,” Mazumdar said.

The MEA further elaborated on Prime Minister’s visit to the AEM Holdings in Singapore

“Prime Minister Modi also visited AEM, which is a leading Singapore company in the semiconductor space and in electronics. He was briefed about AEM’s role in global semiconductor value chain, its operations and plans for India, and given our efforts to develop our own semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem and to match Singapore’s strengths in this area, there were a number of other senior company leaders who were present, as well as those involved in skilling and skill-upgradation in this sector,” Mazumdar said.

“At the facility, the two prime ministers also interacted with a group of interns, both from India and Singapore, who had undergone skill training as part of bilateral programs…Prime Minister Modi also invited the semiconductor-related CEOs present today to the Semicon India exhibition and conference, which is being held from 11th-13th September,” he added.

In terms of people-to-people contact, the MEA Secy said, both sides have discussed increasing the flight connections between the two countries and PM Modi announced the first ever Thiruvalluvar Cultural Centre to be set up in Singapore.

India and Singapore also elevated their bilateral relations to the level of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi called on Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam in Singapore and discussed avenues to broaden and deepen India-Singapore cooperation.

He also attended the lunch hosted by Singapore’s Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Prime Minister Modi and Singapore PM Lawrence Wong met at the Parliament House in Singapore on Thursday. The two leaders, along with their delegations, held the bilateral meeting. At their talks, both leaders reviewed the progress of India-Singapore bilateral relations.

Following this, the two sides exchanged four MoUs in the areas of digital technology, semiconductors, skill development, and healthcare.

Prime Minister Modi invited PM Lawrence Wong to visit India, which he accepted.