India and Singapore strengthened their ties on Thursday by exchanging four significant Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the island nation. The agreements cover collaboration in digital technologies, the semiconductor sector, health and medicine, and education and skills development.
The agreements were signed at Singapore’s Parliament House by India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan in the presence of PM Modi and Singapore counterpart Lawrence Wong.
In a post on X, PM Modi said semiconductors and technology are important facets of India-Singapore cooperation. This is also a sector where India is increasing its presence, he added.
“Today, PM Wong and I visited AEM Holdings Ltd. We look forward to working together in this sector and giving our youth more opportunities,” PM Modi said.
The first agreement, signed between India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Singapore’s Ministry of Digital Development and Information, focuses on cooperation in digital technologies. This includes digital public infrastructure, cyber-security, 5G, super-computing, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and upskilling workers in the digital domain.
The second agreement establishes a partnership for the India-Singapore semiconductor ecosystem, facilitating cooperation in semiconductor cluster development and talent cultivation. Singaporean companies, integral to the global semiconductor value chain, are keen to invest in India, and the dialogue mechanisms under this MoU will facilitate these investments.
The third between the health ministries of both nations focuses on cooperation in health and medicine, promoting joint research, innovation, and human resource development in healthcare and pharmaceuticals.
The final MoU, signed between the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship of India and Singapore’s Ministry of Education, aims to enhance collaboration in technical and vocational education, complementing ongoing skill development initiatives between the two countries.
Prime Minister Modi and PM Wong also visited the semiconductor facility of AEM Holdings Ltd in Singapore, where they explored synergies in semiconductor manufacturing.
During his visit, PM Modi also met former Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong and discussed how both nations can work together in futuristic areas such as green energy, FinTech, etc.
Expressing his gladdening, PM Modi said, “Loong has always been a strong votary of close India-Singapore ties. His insights on various matters are also very enriching.”
Singapore’s semiconductor industry spans the entire value chain, including IC design (MediaTek, Qualcomm, AMD), assembly and testing (ASE Group, UTAC), wafer fabrication (GlobalFoundries, Micron), and equipment manufacturing (Soitec, Applied Materials). The visit highlights India’s potential role in expanding this industry, with opportunities in talent development, knowledge sharing, and possible investment by Singaporean companies in India.