India, Singapore set to sign agreement in services

NEW DELHI: India and Singapore are set to sign an agreement on services shortly under a comprehensive economic treaty between the two, enabling architects, nurses, dentists and chartered accountants to practice in each other's country, government sources said.

"This will be the first services agreement that India signs with any country. It would cover movement of personnel from professions like dental, architecture, nursing, medical and chartered accountancy," a senior official said here.

Once the agreement comes through, professionals from India and Singapore would not be required to write a separate examination or meet any other criteria to be able to start practise in the other country.

The government is also asking councils of various bodies like dental and medical to discuss with their counterparts in Singapore and work out an enabling provision to recognise qualifications of professionals from the two countries.

"We are asking the councils to expedite the process," he said.

The Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement signed between India and Singapore in 2005 has four components -- a Free Trade Agreement in goods, an arrangement to boost trade in services and package to promote investment flows and avoidance of double taxation treaty.