India Signs Chips Pact with Singapore

· Singapore has increasingly become known for making low-end chips vital to electric cars, and smartphones.

· According to the Singapore government, the country's semiconductor industry currently constitutes about 7-8 per cent of the country's GDP, and contributes to around 10 per cent of the global semiconductor output.

· Ongoing third review of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) signed by both nations back in 2005, the joint statement said. Singapore was India’s sixth largest trade partner with $35.3 billion worth of bilateral trade, of which $14.4 billion was exports.

[ABS News Service/06.09.2024]

India and Singapore on Thursday (05.09.2024) announced the signing of a key bilateral pact to partner and cooperate in the field of semiconductors, as the two countries elevated their ties to a "comprehensive strategic partnership".

"India aims to establish a global node for semiconductor manufacturing and has strong domestic demand in the electronics, electric vehicles, and manufacturing sectors that would benefit from its semiconductor industry growth. Singapore’s established semiconductor ecosystem has given rise to more domestic semiconductor ecosystem players which are keen to enter emerging global nodes such as the Indian market," the Singapore government said.

While Taiwan has long dominated high-end chip-manufacturing, Singapore has increasingly become known for making low-end chips vital to electric cars, and smartphones.

According to the Singapore government, the country's semiconductor industry currently constitutes about 7-8 per cent of the country's GDP, and contributes to around 10 per cent of the global semiconductor output.

Earlier this week, the Cabinet approved the fifth semiconductor unit to be set up in India, under a proposal by Kaynes Semicon to produce up to six million chips per day at an investment of Rs 3,307 crore.

The pact on digital cooperation envisages the sharing principles and mechanisms of governance frameworks and implementation rules for data protection, which may include model contractual clauses, certifications, or other mechanisms to enable data flows, alongside digital public infrastructure. It also focuses on enhancing cooperation between the cyber security agencies of both nations.

Both also called for an early conclusion to the ongoing third review of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) signed by both nations back in 2005, the joint statement said. Singapore was India’s sixth largest trade partner with $35.3 billion worth of bilateral trade, of which $14.4 billion was exports.

Modi also met top business leaders from Singapore on Thursday, including the CEOs of Blackstone Singapore, Temasek Holdings, Sembcorp Industries Limited, CapitaLand Investment, ST Telemedia Global Data Centers, and Singapore Airways, among others