Singapore Ready to Help India Develop 100 Smart Cities: Masagos Zulkifli -

Singapore Ready to Help India Develop 100 Smart Cities: Masagos Zulkifli

Nov 15, 2014 Sanjay Tandon Economy 0

Masagos Zulkifli, a senior Singapore minister, has said that his country is ready to provide all possible help to Indian government to fulfill its dream of developing 100 smart cities. Speaking to a group of journalists from India, Masagos Zulkifli said that Singapore can help by providing the vision though its implementation remains totally in the hands of the leadership and the people of India.

Zulkifli is the Minister of Home Affairs in Singapore government. He said that he has heard about the new government’s plan to develop 100 smart cities in India and he is interested in providing all possible help to India to achieve its objective.

“We can’t help India, only India can help itself….We can only provide vision and it’s up to the government and the people in the country how they implement it,” This is what Masagos told reporters when they asked him how Singapore would help India in this endeavor. He elaborated that help does not mean literally going to India and building and developing smart cities. India has the skills and the manpower to achieve this objective. But Singapore can see to it that things are done in the right manner, and this is where his country plans to help India in its ambitious plan.

Zulkifli said that he was confident that India could achieve this objective as it only takes a strong political will and determination to do it. He added that he was impressed with the vision of the new Prime Minister of India who seems to be determined to take his country to new heights. ‘There is no doubt in my mind that India can thrive just like China in the coming decades. The only aspect where India has been found lacking in the past is planning.’ Zulkifli added. With good planning, everything else fits into place, he said.

Describing the Singapore model of smart cities, Zulkifli said that Singapore is a city state but it has always kept in mind the future needs of the growing population while developing the country. It is extremely necessary for Indian government to keep in mind future expansion and growth when planning for the current needs. Zulkifli said that his government has a blueprint ready for helping India in this regard. It is up to Indian government to take a quick and good decision.

The minister said that Government should work out the compensation plan before starting the acquisition process. This is necessary, he said, to prevent seeds of discontent and disappointment sowing in the minds of the people who are displaced during the construction and building stages of such a project.

Zulkifli said that India was a country of abundant natural resources and Singapore can provide its expertise on water management to India. The minister said that Singapore has excellent relations with the government of India and he would like to build upon these relations.

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Sanjay Tandon

Sanjay Tandon is a graduate engineer from IIT Varanasi. He has been writing as a freelancer for many years. He loves to write on various niches. He is passionate about politics and economy and spends his free time watching news channels. He is also an expert on relationships.