High Commissioner Wong leads Singaporean investors at Global Investors Meet in Chennai
Singapore-based companies will invest S$5 billion in Tamil Nadu’s several developing sectors including infrastructure, technology, sustainability and data centres, expanding the prosperous city state’s participation in the southern Indian state’s economic prosperity.
The Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry announced the investments on 7 Jan 2024 at the Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet including CapitaLand Investment’s a S$500 million commitment to development of business parks, logistics and warehouses as well as a data centre.
CapitaLand has invested in more than 20 tech and business parks, industrial, logistics, lodging, data centre and coworking assets in seven Indian cities, including Chennai.
Separately, Lionsbot, which designs and manufactures automated industrial-scale cleaning robots, will partner with top universities in Tamil Nadu to set up training laboratories and design hardware and software courses.
Singapore’s Crayon Data aims to create 150 direct and 350 supporting jobs within the next three years, supporting the growth of its AI-led solutions in banking, fintech and travel industries. Crayon’s global development centre in Chennai has a workforce of 150 employees.
“The latest pipeline of collaborative initiatives and associated investments shows that Singapore companies are strategically building the breadth and depth of their engagement in Tamil Nadu,” said Tan Soon Kim, deputy chief executive officer of Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), an agency under MTI.
“This is testament to the strong opportunities and investor-friendly policies of the state,” The Straits Times quoted Tan as saying at the Chennai mega fair.
A number of MoUs were also signed by Singapore companies for investments to be implemented over the next few years with GuidanceTN, an investment promotion agency of the Tamil Nadu government.
Tamil Nadu working to build a US$1 trillion (S$1.33 trillion) economy by 2030, and it has been aggressive in wooing foreign investors.
The investment announcements followed Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K Stalin’s investment promotion visit to Singapore last May.
Speaking at one of the sessions of the global meet, Singapore High Commissioner to India Simon Wong highlighted the potential for Tamil Nadu and Singapore to explore the export of promising renewable energy solutions, such as green hydrogen and green ammonia. India aims to export green hydrogen and ammonia to Singapore in the coming years.
Sixty business representatives from the Singapore Business Federation and the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry were part of the Wong-led delegation from the Southeast Asian financial hub. Officials from MTI, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and EnterpriseSG were also at the global investors’ meet held 7-8 Jan 2024. Fiinews.com
