"We are thinking of organising various missions in the fields of trade, power, ports, information technology and road construction for setting up joint ventures," Ong Boon Aun, senior trade officer, international operations of singapore trade development board told journalists.

Recalling the traditional and historic bilateral trading links, Ong said India, with a 200 million-strong middle class, is still "our significant trading partner and there is potential for increasing trade".

In 1996, Singapore's bilateral trade with India increased by 9.8 per cent amounting to about three billion U S dollars. The total trade last year was to the tune of $4.8 billion.

Answering queries on the problems faced by Singapore investors in India, Ong said one of the main hurdles was "red tapism." But he was all praisefor the Indian legal system which is "very transparent".

Replying to a question on the impact of the currency meltdown, Ong said the currency crisis was a "bump in the road" and they had utilised it as a "moderating factor".

He said Singapore companies had invested $550 million in 230 projects in India. "Singapore companies invest in India with a long term objective," he said and noted "what is needed is to find the right partner".

Main investments from Singapore are in Tamil nadu, Delhi, Karnataka, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

Singapore's investments in India have generally been of a small-to-medium scale, focussing mainly on areas such as aquaculture, food products, computer peripherals, electrical and electronic components, textiles and garments.

"However, there have been a few significant projects where Singapore companies have been involved in response to a more liberalised business environment," Ong said.

He cited the "Information Technology Park" in Bangalore, awarehouse-cum-distripark in Mumbai, commercial office and industrial complexes in Gurgaon, a hospital in Calcutta, hotels and distriparks in Chennai and the provision of electronic data interchange services for document facilitation in this connection.

He said the Singapore Trade Development Board offices spread over in Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi facilitated Singapore companies venturing to India by providing them with relevant contacts, seeking out projects and promoting Singapore as a gateway for Indian conglomerates to exploit markets in Asia Pacific region.