Strong threads for a durable fabric
Saturday, 6 October 2007
Amy Yee
India's chaotic cities may have little in common with the manicured landscapes of Singapore, but the city-state of 4.5m is imparting its signature orderliness in new development zones sprouting up across the subcontinent.
Companies such as Ascendas, Surbana, Jurong Consultants, Capitaland and CPG Consultants are master planning, building and managing projects as varied as a 700-acre township near Hyderabad, a technology corridor in Bangalore and a "mega tourism destination" in the northern state of Uttaranchal.
Ascendas last week inaugurated CyberVale, a special economic zone for technology companies near the southern city of Chennai. The project is a joint-venture with Mahindra World City, a domestic developer involved in several large Indian SEZs. CyberVale will eventually house 12,000 office workers across 18.5 acres.
"With seven IT parks in five Indian cities, India is one of our fastest growing markets," Chong Siak Ching, chief executive of Ascendas, said at last week's launch.
To generate even more investment, the group in August launched Ascendas India Trust, Singapore's first listed Indian property trust. The initial public offering was oversubscribed 46.2 times by institutional investors.
Singapore's strengths in areas such as logistics, urban planning and management - enhanced by experience with industrial developments in China - can help shore up India's weak spots. "In many areas, Singapore can be a useful partner even though our experience is limited to that of a compact city-state," said George Yeo, Singapore's foreign affairs minister, early this year.
Singaporean companies are also investing in sectors such as telecommunications, financial services, infrastructure, logistics and electronics. With a tally of $578m, Singapore was India's fifth largest source of direct investment in the 12 months through March 2007, following Mauritius, an important tax haven for investments into India, the US, UK and Germany, according to figures from India's commerce ministry.
Investment has accelerated since Singapore and India signed an economic co-operation agreement in 2005, with roughly half of Singapore's cumulative direct investment of $1.63bn since August 1991 arriving in the aftermath. That total was seventh largest among sources of Indian direct investment.
The Comprehensive Economic Co-operation Agreement, the result of years of negotiations, gives India preferential treatment for a variety of sectors. Under CECA, Indian investors are not required to seek approval for investments in Singapore.
Since CECA came into force in August 2005, bilateral trade has jumped almost 70 per cent to reach $16.6bn in 2006.
Indian imports from Singapore reached $4.18bn in the nine months through December, ranking it 12th among trading partners. That figure was 24.8 per cent more than India's total imports from Singapore for the previous full year. Singapore meanwhile is now India's fourth largest export destination, taking in $4.77bn in shipments in the nine months through December.
Singapore Telecommunications has invested $902m for a 30.84 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel, owner of India's largest mobile operator. Investment firm Temasek, which manages a portfolio of more than $100bn, has invested in ICICI, India's largest private sector bank, automotive group Mahindra & Mahindra, and healthcare chain Apollo Hospitals.
The relationship between Singapore and India is based on long-standing historic and cultural ties. People of Indian origin make up nearly 9 per cent of Singapore's population. Modern Singapore was established by the British East India Company in 1819 and until 1867, Singapore was governed from Calcutta.
India began strengthening ties with Singapore following the start of the country's economic reforms in 1991. Relations with Singapore are important to India's "Look East" strategy to counter-balance the growth of China.
"History is bringing us together, again," said Mr Yeo, Singapore's foreign minister. "Many threads from India are woven into the Singapore fabric and more will be in the future."
Indian companies are increasingly looking to Singapore as a base of operations because of its trade links with important markets such as China and Japan and strong infrastructure.
As of the first quarter, there were 2,742 Indian companies registered in Singapore engaged in manufacturing, IT, venture capital, outsourcing and other industries, up from 1,121 in 2001.
Indian companies together rank as the fourth biggest foreign corporate entourage in Singapore, behind those of the US, Japan and Malaysia.
"When Indians think of a second home they think of Singapore," said Aylwin Tan, executive director of the Economic Development Board.
TCS, India's largest IT outsourcing firm, has grown its Singapore-based Asia-Pacific headquarters to 400 staff. Satyam, another large Indian IT firm, does research and development in Singapore.
Although India is typically seen as a low-cost base, Satyam has been able to draw on Singapore's expertise in sectors such as telecoms to develop mobile phone applications.
Indian educational institutes are also using Singapore as a base to become global players. Indian business school SP Jain opened its Singapore campus this year to 150 MBA students. The Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad, India's elite business school, has launched executive education courses in Singapore and hinted at launching a Singapore campus.
India's chaotic cities may have little in common with the manicured landscapes of Singapore, but the city-state of 4.5m is imparting its signature orderliness in new development zones sprouting up across the subcontinent.
Companies such as Ascendas, Surbana, Jurong Consultants, Capitaland and CPG Consultants are master planning, building and managing projects as varied as a 700-acre township near Hyderabad, a technology corridor in Bangalore and a "mega tourism destination" in the northern state of Uttaranchal.
Ascendas last week inaugurated CyberVale, a special economic zone for technology companies near the southern city of Chennai. The project is a joint-venture with Mahindra World City, a domestic developer involved in several large Indian SEZs. CyberVale will eventually house 12,000 office workers across 18.5 acres.
"With seven IT parks in five Indian cities, India is one of our fastest growing markets," Chong Siak Ching, chief executive of Ascendas, said at last week's launch.
To generate even more investment, the group in August launched Ascendas India Trust, Singapore's first listed Indian property trust. The initial public offering was oversubscribed 46.2 times by institutional investors.
Singapore's strengths in areas such as logistics, urban planning and management - enhanced by experience with industrial developments in China - can help shore up India's weak spots. "In many areas, Singapore can be a useful partner even though our experience is limited to that of a compact city-state," said George Yeo, Singapore's foreign affairs minister, early this year.
Singaporean companies are also investing in sectors such as telecommunications, financial services, infrastructure, logistics and electronics. With a tally of $578m, Singapore was India's fifth largest source of direct investment in the 12 months through March 2007, following Mauritius, an important tax haven for investments into India, the US, UK and Germany, according to figures from India's commerce ministry.
Investment has accelerated since Singapore and India signed an economic co-operation agreement in 2005, with roughly half of Singapore's cumulative direct investment of $1.63bn since August 1991 arriving in the aftermath. That total was seventh largest among sources of Indian direct investment.
The Comprehensive Economic Co-operation Agreement, the result of years of negotiations, gives India preferential treatment for a variety of sectors. Under CECA, Indian investors are not required to seek approval for investments in Singapore.
Since CECA came into force in August 2005, bilateral trade has jumped almost 70 per cent to reach $16.6bn in 2006.
Indian imports from Singapore reached $4.18bn in the nine months through December, ranking it 12th among trading partners. That figure was 24.8 per cent more than India's total imports from Singapore for the previous full year. Singapore meanwhile is now India's fourth largest export destination, taking in $4.77bn in shipments in the nine months through December.
Singapore Telecommunications has invested $902m for a 30.84 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel, owner of India's largest mobile operator. Investment firm Temasek, which manages a portfolio of more than $100bn, has invested in ICICI, India's largest private sector bank, automotive group Mahindra & Mahindra, and healthcare chain Apollo Hospitals.
The relationship between Singapore and India is based on long-standing historic and cultural ties. People of Indian origin make up nearly 9 per cent of Singapore's population. Modern Singapore was established by the British East India Company in 1819 and until 1867, Singapore was governed from Calcutta.
India began strengthening ties with Singapore following the start of the country's economic reforms in 1991. Relations with Singapore are important to India's "Look East" strategy to counter-balance the growth of China.
"History is bringing us together, again," said Mr Yeo, Singapore's foreign minister. "Many threads from India are woven into the Singapore fabric and more will be in the future."
Indian companies are increasingly looking to Singapore as a base of operations because of its trade links with important markets such as China and Japan and strong infrastructure.
As of the first quarter, there were 2,742 Indian companies registered in Singapore engaged in manufacturing, IT, venture capital, outsourcing and other industries, up from 1,121 in 2001.
Indian companies together rank as the fourth biggest foreign corporate entourage in Singapore, behind those of the US, Japan and Malaysia.
"When Indians think of a second home they think of Singapore," said Aylwin Tan, executive director of the Economic Development Board.
TCS, India's largest IT outsourcing firm, has grown its Singapore-based Asia-Pacific headquarters to 400 staff. Satyam, another large Indian IT firm, does research and development in Singapore.
Although India is typically seen as a low-cost base, Satyam has been able to draw on Singapore's expertise in sectors such as telecoms to develop mobile phone applications.
Indian educational institutes are also using Singapore as a base to become global players. Indian business school SP Jain opened its Singapore campus this year to 150 MBA students. The Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad, India's elite business school, has launched executive education courses in Singapore and hinted at launching a Singapore campus.