Halimah calls for private sector-led initiatives to create win-win solutions
President Halimah Yacob has called on Singapore and India to cooperate on upstream initiatives to accelerate research, development and deployment of sustainable and low-carbon tech solutions.
India and Singapore are making concerted efforts to address the climate change crisis in their respective countries and are committed to reduce carbon outputs, noted Halimah in her address to the Indian business community on 12 May 2022.
“One area we can collaborate on is the green economy. Both India and Singapore are making concerted efforts to address the climate change crisis in our respective countries and are committed to reduce our carbon outputs,” she told some 500 members of the Federation of Singapore Indian Organisations (FSIO) – an umbrella body of 26 Indian organisations under the auspices of the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI).
Singapore launched its Green Plan 2030 in February last year while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to cut the country’s emissions to net zero by 2070 at the COP26 climate talks last year. The plan cuts across various sectors of society such as infrastructural development, and research and innovation.
“Another area where private sector-led initiatives can create win-win solutions for both our companies and people is in the digital economy, where India and Singapore can partner to build digitally inclusive communities,” Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted Halimah as saying.
For example, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Reserve Bank of India announced plans last September to link Singapore’s PayNow system, which lets individuals transfer money using just a mobile number, with India’s Unified Payments Interface real-time payment system.
“SICCI-FSIO can advocate industry transformation, the adoption of digital technologies and grow awareness of emerging areas of collaboration between Singapore and India,” she said.
The President also urged the newly formed group of Indian organisations, FSIO, to engage youth with activities that encourage sharing of new ideas and expertise, and bonding, between people from different backgrounds.
The FSIO is an umbrella body of 26 Indian organisations under the auspices of SICCI and was formed in October 2021. fiinews.com
