[Above] - DPM Tharman (second from left) lighting a traditional Indian lamp to mark the launch of SMU’s India Initiative at the Inaugural Singapore-India Business Dialogue. Also at the ceremony were SMU Provost and Deputy President, Professor Rajendra K Srivastava (extreme left); Indian High Commissioner to Singapore, His Excellency Dr T. C. A. Raghavan (second from right); and Former President of Singapore, Mr S. R. Nathan.
Some 350 invited guests comprising corporate honchos, senior executives of public and private sector organisations, academics and students, converged on SMU for the Inaugural Singapore-India Business Dialogue held on 19 Oct 2012. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam graced the event as the Guest-of-Honour and delivered a keynote on the theme, “Leveraging on Untapped Opportunities and Growth”.
DPM Tharman highlighted four key aspects of India’s economy as the country entered into its next phase of development, namely demographics and productivity; urbanisation and education; manufacturing and globalisation. He also commented on the economic implications for Singapore and India arising from recent reforms by the latter and urged Singapore businesses to seize the myriad of exciting opportunities being presented. Education and skills training would be two key areas where Singapore could tap the immense potential of India.
DPM Tharman also noted that “there are simply not enough Singaporeans with an interest in India”, and more could be done to encourage them to venture into India. For the long term, he was of the view that “one needs an intellectual and cultural mindset, as well as flexibility, that allow for sustained interactions”. He cited two SMU alumni, 2009 Business graduate, Benedict Kuah and 2011 Accounting graduate, Danson Ang as fine examples of Singaporeans who had the determination to succeed and the courage to venture into the Indian market in their respective professional capacity.
Four business leaders - Mr Sanjiv Misra, Chairman, Asia Pacific Advisory Board, Apollo Management; Mr Girija Pande, Executive Chairman, Apex Advisors Pte Ltd; Mr Teo Soon Hoe, Senior Executive Director, Keppel Corporation; and Mr Jonathan Yap, Group Assistant CEO for Funds and CEO of India, Ascendas Pte Ltd, shared their valuable insights and experiences of doing business in India with the audience. The engaging discussion was moderated by SMU’s Provost and Deputy President, Prof Rajendra K Srivastava.
His Excellency Dr T.C.A. Raghavan, India’s High Commissioner to Singapore, was invited to deliver the Dialogue’s closing remarks. On the subject of urbanisation, he concurred with DPM Tharman’s observation that India could reap immense supply-side benefits arising from “economies of agglomeration”. He shared that the Indian government had been expending efforts to overcome the lack of infrastructure in the cities. Metro systems were currently under construction in eight Indian cities, with 18 more planned for the next decade.
The well-received Inaugural Singapore-India Business Dialogue marks the first major activity rolled out under SMU’s India Initiative. SMU is working closely with its corporate and academic partners to create more knowledge-action networks that harness Asian insights and cross-border management capabilities. Pipeline undertakings include business roundtables, executive programmes, as well as workshops that provide networking and expertise development opportunities for corporate executives, academics and students from both countries. These collaborations will help boost bilateral ties between Singapore and India not only in trade and investment, but also in education and other areas. Through such efforts, SMU aims to build a global reputation for itself as the University for the World of Business and Management.
Press Release:
http://www.smu.edu.sg/sites/news.smu.edu.sg/files/smu/news_room/smu_in_the_news/2012/sources/TODAY_20121020_1.pdf
http://www.smu.edu.sg/sites/news.smu.edu.sg/files/smu/news_room/smu_in_the_news/2012/sources/CNA_20121019_1.pdf
http://www.smu.edu.sg/sites/news.smu.edu.sg/files/smu/news_room/smu_in_the_news/2012/sources/BT_20121020_1.pdf
http://www.smu.edu.sg/sites/news.smu.edu.sg/files/smu/news_room/smu_in_the_news/2012/sources/LHZB_20121020_2.pdf
http://www.smu.edu.sg/sites/news.smu.edu.sg/files/smu/news_room/smu_in_the_news/2012/sources/BH_20121020_1.pdf
http://www.smu.edu.sg/sites/news.smu.edu.sg/files/smu/news_room/smu_in_the_news/2012/sources/ST_20121020_1.pdf
http://www.smu.edu.sg/sites/news.smu.edu.sg/files/smu/news_room/smu_in_the_news/2012/sources/PressTrustOfIndia_20121019_1.pdf