A Grant Agreement was signed between Government of Rajasthan and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) for building knowledge capabilities on the governance of sustainable water management and to develop capabilities in urban water management in the state.

The signing ceremony was held here at SMS convention centre on Wednesday in the presence of Chief Minister Smt. Vasundhara Raje and Singapore’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Shri K. Shanmugam. Principal Secretary PHED Shri Dinesh Kumar signed the Agreement on behalf of the state government while CEO of Singapore Cooperation Enterprises Shri Kong Wy Mun signed on behalf of the SCE.

According to the Agreement Singapore Cooperation Foundation will provide assistance in advisory and capacity building programme for the water management and recycle of waste water. A series of workshops will be conducted to build capacity of 100 officials from PHED and other relevant departments of Rajasthan Government with the help of Temasek Foundation. Singapore Cooperation Enterprise will be the lead agency to aggregate a team of experts from Singapore. The few initial areas which will be covered during this 18 month programme are urban water management, governance of waste water treatment and water management. The first such workshop started on Wednesday in Jaipur.
The Chief Minister on this occasion said she was happy that the process which started during her Singapore visit in October last year had resulted in the form of Agreement. She said, visit of a big delegation of industrialists from Singapore shows that we have succeeded in our mission. During my Singapore visit discussion were made on important issues like water management, skill development, urban planning and now the results appearing during this short span of time are very encouraging, she said. This Agreement with Singapore will focus mainly on building capacities and knowledge in sustainable water management and waste water reuse, she added.

Smt. Raje said lots of discussion has been made regarding cooperation from ITE Education Services and ‘Gardens by the Bay’ and we will see better outcomes in the future. Now we have signed agreement on water management. She said joint ventures are expected in sectors like Automobiles, Engineering and PPP model also in the future. She said we expect that Singapore will play an important role in the ‘Resurgent Rajasthan Conclave’ to be held in November this year.

The Foreign Affairs Minister of Singapore Shri K. Shanmugam while praising the progressive vision and determination shown by Rajasthan Chief Minister said that he was impressed by the pro-active approach of Smt. Raje to move Rajasthan ahead. He said Singapore is a small country and partnership with the states like Rajasthan in sectors such as skill development, water management, urban governance and hospitality will prove to be beneficial for both of us.

Chief Secretary Shri C. S. Rajan in his opening remarks informed the delegation about the reforms and other initiatives taken by the state government to create investment friendly atmosphere. He said the expertise of Singapore in various sectors has helped the state.

ITE Education Services and ‘Gardens by the Bay’ presented their reports in the beginning of the programme. The representatives of the companies from Singapore like Ascendas, Jurong Consultants, SMRT, Global School Foundation, Hyflux, Snowman Logistics and YCH Group while showing eagerness in investment in Rajasthan gave brief introduction about their company.

Minister of Industries, Rajasthan Shri Gajendra Singh Khimsar, PHED Minister Smt. Kiran Maheshwari, High Commissioner of Singapore to India Shri Lim Thuan, CEO of Temasek Shri Benedict Choeng and other officials were present during the singing of Agreement.

Jaipur, 25 February 2015