Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal met senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs of Singapore Dr Maliki Osman and Singapore’s High Commissioner to India Lim Thuan Kuan on the sidelines of Delhi Dialogue 9 in New Delhi on Tuesday evening and discussed issues of mutual interest.
In the meeting that lasted for 30 minutes, Sonowal urged the Singapore Senior Minister for exploring opportunities of business and economic activities between Assam and Singapore. Dr. Osman also responded by saying that he would visit the State between 18th to 21st July next for identifying potential areas of cooperation in near future, according to an official source here.
Sonowal also urged the Senior Minister for starting direct flights between Guwahati and Singapore that would serve the population in Northeast region wanting to travel to Singapore. Dr. Osman assured that ground assessment would be conducted for starting flights on this route by roping in private players and, if found economically viable, flights would operate accordingly.
Dr. Osman said that he was keenly looking forward to his maiden visit to Assam which offers new collaborative opportunities on many fronts and invited Sonowal to visit Singapore to
Dr.Osman said the purpose of his visit is aimed at setting up of a Skill Development Centre in Guwahati for imparting skilled training to the youth to equip them for different avocations. “The youth constitutes rich human resources and their energies must be channelized to usher in economic prosperity,” said Dr. Osman.
Pointing out to the potential sectors like infrastructure development, tourism, oil and natural gas exploration and IT where Assam and Singapore can join hands to reap economic benefits, Chief Minister Sonowal urged the Singapore Senior Minister to provide technical knowhow and expertise to develop Guwahati as an IT hub. Sonowal also pleaded for opening a Singapore Consulate in the city which would be immensely beneficial for the people of the region seeking opportunities in Singapore.