Significant synergy between Singapore, Tamil Nadu: Jayalalithaa

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa Friday told Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam that there could be synergy between his country and the Indian state on key projects.

In a statement issued here, the Tamil Nadu government said Shanmugam had called on Jayalalithaa at the state secretariat.

During the meeting, Jayalalithaa, citing Singapore's experience and expertise and the needs of Tamil Nadu, said there could be significant synergies between Tamil Nadu and Singapore in some key projects.

She said Singapore can contribute with its experience and expertise in projects like development of Finance City here, development of industrial parks, nodes and clusters, including the Madurai-Thoothukudi Industrial Corridor project, and development of ports along the Tamil Nadu coastline.

She also told Shanmugam that there could be greater collaboration in urban infrastructure and services, including intelligent transport solutions, waste water management, desalination and solid waste management; tourism related projects - both relating to heritage and development of resorts and skill development initiatives.

Jayalalithaa also looked forward to an enhanced engagement with Singapore and hoped to make Singapore a valued partner in implementing the Tamil Nadu Vision 2023.

On his part, Shanmugam said that while Tamil Nadu is one of the top three destinations of Singapore's investment in India, he agreed with Jayalalithaa that the economic ties between Tamil Nadu and Singapore need to be deepened further.

With Tamil Nadu's strong manufacturing base and Singapore's strength as a financial centre with a large pool of funds looking for an outlet, there was a lot of potential for deepening of the ties, he said.