Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal who is on a visit to Singapore met Singapore Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan in the side-lines of the two-day ASEAN-India Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Singapore.
Union External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj was also present in the meeting with the Singapore Foreign Minister.
Sonowal tweeted : Glad to meet Minister for Foreign Affairs, Singapore Mr @VivianBala along with Hon’ble Minister of External Affairs Smt. @SushmaSwaraj ji on Day 2 of the ASEAN-India Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Singapore.
The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated every year to mark the contribution of overseas Indian community in the development of India
Over 2,500 delegates attended the programme, which was held for the first time in Singapore.
The India-Singapore/ASEAN Entrepreneurship Bridge (InSpreneur) was also held on January 5 and 6, on the second day, co-terminus with the PBD which was also attended by Sonowal and Swaraj.
The event focussed on start-ups, fintech, cyber security, disruptive technologies in manufacturing and India Stack.
In addition to panel discussions, start-ups provided an opportunity to pitch to investors and interact with other start-ups in curated ‘speed dating’ sessions.
The event culminated in the launch of the India- Singapore/ASEAN start up portal.
Around 600 invited delegates, including 300 curated start -ups, with around 120 from India, participated in the event.
The event is supported by Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and India’s the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Invest India, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM).
The event is intended to promote India’s successful model of UID-enabled governance, public services, financial inclusion and payment systems in Southeast Asia/ASEAN region.
Fintech is emerging as an exciting new area of collaboration – both at regulatory and promotional levels.
The launch of the India-Singapore startup portal, anchored in startup India, will become a channel for pursuing these objectives on a sustained basis.
The PBD also commemorates 25 years of ASEAN-India Partnership, ahead of the Commemorative Summit on January 25- 26.
The theme of “Ancient Route, New Journey: Diaspora in the Dynamic ASEAN-India Partnership” aims to highlight the ancient human, maritime, cultural, commercial and religious links between India and Southeast Asia; and, promote greater economic, cultural and diplomatic cooperation between India and Southeast Asian nations as well as ASEAN.
The event also showcased Indian Diaspora’s talent and achievements and deepen their – especially the youth’s – emotional and economic links with India.