The Hindu : Prospects of trade cooperation good: Nathan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka-Bangalore

Prospects of trade cooperation good: Nathan

By Our Special Correspondent

Bangalore Jan. 6. The Singapore President, S.R.Nathan, said here today that bilateral talks between India and Singapore would be held soon after the completion of a joint study on free trade zone.

Speaking to presspersons at the International Technology Park Limited (ITPL) here today, Mr. Nathan said the study was expected to be completed in the first quarter of the year. It would look at economic cooperation between the two countries. The prospects of trade cooperation were "great" and it required businessmen of both countries to assess and take advantage of the globalised environment.

Earlier, Mr. Nathan along with the Governor, T.N.Chaturvedi, inaugurated "Explorer," the new building of ITPL, in the presence of Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Sons Ltd.

Mr. Tata, in his welcome address, said that the ITPL was a tribute to India-Singapore partnership and that the new facility provided office, residential, recreational, and other facilities at one place. The facility, he added, was world class and that many companies aspired to locate their offices here.

The President and CEO of Ascendas Pte Ltd. and Chairperson, ITPL, Chong Siak Ching, said the "Explorer" was the largest single IT facility in India with over 100 companies. In the first phase of the ITPL project, the occupancy was over 90 per cent and in the second phase it was about 60 per cent. She said that ITPL was now looking at setting up a world-class business hotel and negotiations were on with a hotel group.

The Minister of State for Tourism and Information Technology, D.B.Inamdar, said that ITPL was a boon to Karnataka as it had spurred IT growth considerably. The IT industry, he said, was expected to generate over a million jobs over the next decade, and Karnataka was looking at global investments and ITPL was a showcase.

The "Explorer" is a multi-tenantable building with 11 floors and has MNCs such as AOL Member Services, Product Chain Solutions, Applied Materials, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore etc. It has been built at a cost of Rs. 90 crore.

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