Himanta Biswa Sarma: India-Singapore MoU marks new era of urban development for Assam

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on September 8 announced a "new developmental dawn" following the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Singapore. In the visit, Modi and Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong gave a joint statement over the applause of a significant MoU between Singapore Cooperation Enterprise with the Government of Assam.

The MoU will try to bring in holistic change in urban planning and management in Guwahati with the integration of best practices from Singapore. Chief Minister Sarma underlined the transformative potential of the partnership, saying it is a "future-focused collaboration" to build better infrastructure and planning for the city.

The joint statement underlined the continuing India-Singapore partnership, with a foreground of Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement since 2005, reviewed in 2007 and in 2018. Both leaders looked forward to an early conclusion of the Third Review of CECA to make it more relevant to the changing requirements of the two economies.

Moreover, the statement also called for the review of AITIGA so that a more revised and trade-friendly agreement is made by 2025. It underlined the huge investment potential for investors from Singapore in India and recognized several collaborations-technical assistance, including involvement in SCE in the smart city projects and urban infrastructure development of India.