Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is on a three-day visit to Singapore from August 19 to 21, 2026, as part of continued high-level engagement under the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) framework. During the visit, Goyal will also call on Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong at the Istana.
Goyal will participate in the 4th India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable (ISMR) on August 20, alongside Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, and Union Minister for Railways, Information and Broadcasting, and Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw. The Indian ministers will engage with their Singaporean counterparts and other senior Singaporean leaders during the visit, said the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
The ISMR will be held alongside the 4th India-Singapore Business Roundtable (ISBR), followed by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony. The programme will conclude with a lunch hosted by the Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore for all ISMR and ISBR delegates.
An Indian business delegation comprising around 70 senior business leaders from diverse sectors is accompanying Goyal on the visit to further strengthen India-Singapore economic and commercial ties. The delegation includes representatives from technology, software and artificial intelligence, manufacturing and engineering, infrastructure and sustainability, financial services and FinTech, healthcare and life sciences, food and agriculture, logistics, maritime and trade, and professional services.
The ISMR serves as the apex ministerial mechanism for advancing the India-Singapore Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP). As part of the visit, the Indian business delegation will undertake Business-to-Business (B2B), Government-to-Business (G2B) and institutional engagements, including interactions with leading Centres of Excellence (COEs) and visits to skilling institutions in Singapore. The engagements will focus on fostering partnerships, promoting investment, enhancing market access, facilitating technology collaboration and supporting talent development.
On the sidelines of the meetings, Goyal will hold a series of G2B engagements with senior representatives of the Global Finance & Technology Network, YPO Global, Milken Institute, Keppel Infrastructure, Temasek Holdings and IHH Healthcare. He will also interact with the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) Chairman-led delegation, Turner & Townsend and STT GDC. These engagements will be followed by a Family Office Roundtable.
Goyal will also jointly visit an APEDA–FairPrice initiative at City Square Mall with Singapore’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Trade & Industry, Gan Siow Huang. The initiative aims to promote Indian agri-food exports and strengthen their presence in Singapore’s retail market, reflecting the deepening agri-trade linkages between the two countries.
The Minister will also participate in the India-Singapore Business Forum, organised by FICCI at the INSEAD Asia Campus. He will take part in a fireside chat on “India in the New Global Growth Equation: Growth and Opportunity for Businesses in Asia and the World,” followed by a networking dinner with members of the Indian and Singaporean business communities.
Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Tuesday said the India-Singapore Ministerial Roundtable involves discussions on advanced manufacturing, connectivity, digital sectors, healthcare, medicine, skill development, and sustainability, and these are sectors that significantly boost the ‘Viksit Bharat’ initiative.
The visit will conclude with Goyal delivering a keynote address at the ICAI ASEAN Conference 2026 at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre.
Strong Economic Partnership
Singapore remains a key economic partner and a major source of investment for India. In FY 2025-26, Singapore emerged as the largest source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India, with FDI inflows of USD 19.8 billion. Cumulative FDI inflows from Singapore stood at USD 194.68 billion during April 2000-March 2026, accounting for 24.72% of India’s total FDI inflows, said the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
Singapore is also India’s largest trading partner within ASEAN and remains a significant source of External Commercial Borrowings and Foreign Portfolio Investment. Bilateral trade has grown substantially following the conclusion of the India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), rising from USD 6.7 billion in FY 2004-05 to USD 36.1 billion in FY 2025-26.
ISMR: Key Institutional Mechanism
The ISMR has emerged as an important institutional mechanism for advancing India-Singapore cooperation in new and emerging areas. The inaugural meeting was held in New Delhi in September 2022, followed by the second round in Singapore in August 2024 and the third round in New Delhi in August 2025.
Goyal’s visit reaffirms India’s commitment to further strengthening trade, investment and people-to-people ties with Singapore, one of India’s largest sources of FDI and a key partner in advanced manufacturing, digitalisation, skills development and the green economy.
