GUWAHATI, Feb 13: Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, during his three-day visit to Singapore, projected the State as an ideal hub for Singaporean companies to invest besides emphasising on making Assam a hub for semiconductors, skilling, green energy and innovation driven industries as he also laid stress on increasing collaboration between the State of Assam and Republic of Singapore in areas of semiconductor, skills and green energy.
After calling on the President of Singapore Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Tuesday which he termed “a great honour”, Chief Minister Dr Sarma called on the nation’s Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong yesterday as he highlighted Assam’s key role in the India-ASEAN growing partnership.
Chief Minister Dr Sarma on the second day of his visit to Singapore to woo investors to the Advantage Assam 2.0 summit, also attended a road show at Singapore and addressed over 200 business leaders from different business segments and invited them to Advantage Assam 2.0 and explore the diverse opportunities of the State.
Dr Sarma presented his vision of ‘New Assam’ along with its locational advantage, single-window clearance, tailored incentives, sound law and order and disciplined and diligent workforce, which serve as the State’s unique selling proposition. He also highlighted the strong ties between India and Singapore buoyed
by an enhanced bilateral trade of $35.6 billion in 2023-24, making Singapore India’s 6th largest
trading partner and how Assam is key to taking this relationship further.
Witnessing Singapore’s investor community’s great enthusiasm for Assam’s prolific advantages in harnessing India’s economic potential, Dr Sarma said that with a projected GSDP of 143 billion dollar, 12.2 billion dollar for infrastructure revamp, 15 kilometres of roads built daily, 6000 MW of green energy target, Assam offers investors a bouquet of excellent prospects along with good returns of their investment.
Chief Minister Dr Sarma also had his working lunch with some of Singapore’s key investors and stakeholders and invited them for their collaboration in Assam.
Dr Sarma also visited AEM Singapore and visited their world class testing facilities. Stating TATA’s semiconductor facility in Jagiroad, Dr Sarma said that Assam is on the verge of becoming a key player in Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT), an important service related to the final stages of semiconductor manufacturing. He also met leaders of Singapore Semiconductor Industries Association and other Semicon ecosystem stakeholders.
Drawing attention to these industry players, the Chief Minister shared the government’s vision of
transforming Assam into a global semiconductor hub. He also said that to achieve this end, Assam Government is inviting firms involved in the end-to-end process of semiconductor manufacturing to set up their base in Assam. He also informed them that Assam is undertaking a large-scale skilling initiative for its workforce to meet the requirements of Industry 4.0 by setting up a World Skill Centre in collaboration with global players. He also expressed his gratitude to the Chairmen and CEOs of AEM Holdings, Cleantech, Lewe Engineering, STATS Chippac, leaders from SG, Akribis Systems, PEP Innovation, MTI and Temasek Polytechnic for their time and inputs in establishing collaborations.
Earlier, Chief Minister Dr Sarma held a productive breakfast meeting with key stakeholders from Singapore’s semiconductors and other industries. He expressed hope that at the Advantage Assam 2.0, government will take the next step in transforming Assam into a semiconductor hub through the creation of trusted supply chains and linkages. He also expressed his gratitude to Tata Electronics, Fuji Machine Mfg, Keysight Tech, Nordson Corp, Lintec Corp, Cohu Ink, Ecosoftt, Toppan Photomasks, Singapore Business Federation and Indian Ocean group for joining the discussions as he said that he is looking forward to meeting them at Advantage Assam 2.0.
The Chief Minister visited the Silicon Box in Singapore which has its expertise in cutting edge solutions and ground breaking advancements and held discussion with its CEO Dr Byung Joon Han and his team and explored its advanced chip manufacturing process. Dr Sarma also met the Assamese diaspora in Singapore. He engaged in a heartfelt conversation with them followed by dinner.
