Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong to interact with IIM Alumni and Indian businessmen

SINGAPORE: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will interact and discuss business opportunities in India with alumni of the Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) and Indians heading global corporations at an international conference to be held here next month.

"Prime Minister Lee will be the guest of honour and deliver a key note address as well as interact with delegates," said Sanjiv Aiyar, President of the Pan IIM Alumni Association of Singapore (PIIMA), the organisers of the conference.

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and the second Minister for Trade and Industry S Iswaran will be hosting segments of the conference, IIMPACT 2014, to be held on August 22 and 23.

Indian business leaders would also be addressing some 1,000 delegates at the conference, backed by Singapore's trade promotion agencies.

The IIMPACT 2014 will also underline the growing importance of Singapore for India and global Indian business leaders.

There are about 6,000 Indian companies registered in Singapore. These companies can be used as a gateway to the East Asian markets under the "Look East" policy, said Piyush Gupta, chairman of the PIIMA Advisory Council and Chief Executive of DBS Bank of Singapore.

The "Look East" policy represents India's efforts to cultivate extensive economic and strategic relations with the nations of Southeast Asia.

"I have seen the profile of Indian companies changing in Singapore. I have seen a large number of regional hubs, treasury centres, family wealth and family-owned businesses shifting to Singapore. That shift in the profile of the kind of businesses engaged in Singapore is important," he said.

Likewise, Singapore companies are looking at India as "a massive market for opportunities, especially the large scale infrastructure development".

"From the Singapore stand point, India is a massive market. It is not only for Singapore companies but other companies domiciled outside Singapore," he said.

The conference, second after one held in April last year, is an ongoing initiative of the IIM Alumni to bring the global businesses of India and Asia together to drive the economic growth.