MM Lee sees great potential in increasing bilateral trade with Ah Nehs

India and Singapore have great potential to increase bilateral trade, according to Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

Speaking at a Singapore Symposium in New Delhi, organised by the Institute of South Asian Studies and the Confederation of Indian Industry, Mr Lee said he also sees India playing a greater role in South East Asia.

Singapore is India's largest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region.

After the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) became operational four years ago, Singapore investments in India have increased considerably, and bilateral trade has been growing at over 30 per cent annually.

Singapore is keen on setting up a multi-product special economic zone in India, but the plan has been delayed.

Singapore contributes nine per cent to India's FDI inflow. Mr Lee said that this investment could be much higher if India takes care of its bottlenecks in trade and infrastructure that are hampering the development of the country.

"Free your bureaucracy from successive control, allow your entrepreneurs to expand," said Mr Lee. "And if you can get your infrastructure in place, then you can have massive FDI inflows, which will provide tens, if not hundreds of millions of jobs."

Mr Lee also said India and China are helping the smaller countries in Asia tide over the economic crisis. The economic progress made by both Asian giants has created better trading opportunities for their smaller neighbours.

Mr Lee said: "Asia has a less disadvantage, or is less affected by American setback because of India and China. These two big countries have the population and the internal dynamics to keep growing.

"They have kept growing at around eight per cent. So that has kept the region, at least South East Asia, more buoyant than other regions."

Mr Lee is in India on a four-day official visit. He earlier met India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and the two leaders reviewed the substantial progress made in bilateral relations over the past few years.

Chinese Minister meets Prataman at Istana

China's Minister for State Administration of Religious Affairs Wang Zuo An met President S R Nathan at the Istana on Friday afternoon.

Also present at the meeting were leaders from the Inter-Religious Organisation and religious leaders from China and Singapore.

Meanwhile, the joint Singapore-China Religious and Cultural Exhibition, which is on-going at Suntec City till next Tuesday, showcases the multi-religious and multi-cultural aspects of both countries.

The exhibition has been organised to foster friendship and enhance understanding between the followers of the different religious beliefs.

Also update on the Singapore Pavilion for Shanghai Expo 2010?

Goodbye Ram Tiwary

You don't look Indian to me...

The former Singaporean student found guilty of murdering two of his flatmates in Australia, has been jailed for a maximum 48 years.

With parole and time already served the earliest Ram Tiwary can expect to be released is 2042.
It was the climax to a murder investigation which began more than six years ago when the bodies of Singaporean students Tony Tan Poh Chuan and Tay Chow Lyang were found in the apartment they shared with Tiwary in this house.

Both young men had been clubbed to death with a baseball bat.
The horrific nature of the killings sent shock waves through the nearby University of New South Wales, where many of the students were also Asian.
Initially there were fears the murders were racially motivated.
But eight months later in a surprise breakthrough, police charged their flatmate Ram Tiwary with their deaths.

Then 23, Tiwary was on a scholarship awarded him by the Singapore armed forces.
Protesting his innocence, he was later found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.
However, an appeal court later ordered a re-trial on the grounds the judge had misdirected the jury.

The second trial, which lasted 26 days, again found Tiwary guilty.
And today he was told he could expect to spend the next 33 years of his life behind bars.
The judge said both murders were violent and savage which elevated the gratvity of the crime.
In the case of Tan, the second victim, this was not a spontaneous attack, he said, rather an execution to prevent him giving evidence against the offender.

The prosecution earlier claimed that Ram Tiwary had the "motive, opportunity and capacity" to carry out the murders.

The fact that he also owed Mr Tay several thousand dollars in back rent, might also have provided a motive.

Tiwary’s relatives, who earlier admitted they were still "terribly distraught," were not in court today. Nor were relatives of the dead men.

But the convicted Singaporean is unlikely to let things rest.

His defence team would not confirm whether he is likely to appeal, but Tiwary’s courtroom demeanour suggested he was unmoved by the length of his sentence.

He offered no response before or after the sentence was handed down.

MM Lee on 4-day official visit to India

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew will be making an official visit to New Delhi from Monday until Thursday.

A statement from the Prime Minister's Office said he will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well as key Indian ministers and business leaders.

Mr Lee will also participate in a dialogue session at the Singapore Symposium, which is jointly organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Institute of South Asian Studies of Singapore.

Prataman on Holiday

President SR Nathan has left on a private visit to Spain and will be away till the 16th of the month.

During his absence, Mr Abdullah Tarmugi, Speaker of Parliament, will act for the President till the 5th of December.

Mr J Y Pillay, Chairman of the Council of Presidential Advisers, will act for the President from 6 to 16 December.

Do they get some of his Pay too?