Industry Odisha Bureau, Jun 23: Even though the United States of America (USA) has reportedly remained India’s largest export destination followed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reportedly being India’s gateway to markets across West Asia, Africa and Europe by reaping benefits from the reportedly geographic proximity, large Indian diaspora and lower transpaortation costs, India is claimed to be more inclined towards Singapore these days as a pivotal export hub since it is reportedly a major gateway to the markets across East and South-East Asia.
Media reports quoting analysts claimed that, “Registering the sharpest rise among all other major destinations, exports from India to Singapore increased 124% year-on-year (YoY) to $5.07 billion in April-May. Mainly, petroleum and crude product exports increased 130% YoY and 37% month-on-month (MoM) in April.”
On the other hand, media reports quoting analysts claimed that, “India’s exports to USA declined from 22.5% to 19.5%, while India’s exports to UAE declined from 8.4% to 5.9%, whereas exports to Singapore doubled to 5.7% in April-May in comparison with the percentage recorded in the same period in 2025.”
Analysts reportedly attribute the promising India-Singapore trade bond to the “Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) signed between both the countries in 2005” following which “CECA has reduced trade barriers and improved market access”.
Since the CECA came into effect, India’s exports to Singapore have reportedly “rose from $4.0 billion in 2004-05 to $11.9 billion in 2025-26.”
Apart from this, the reportedly recent initiative of “linking of India’s instant payment system called Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to Singapore’s PayNow” is evident of the growing cooperation between the two countries.
Due to the CECA in a bid to enhance trade and investment, India is also reportedly “aiming to establish itself as a semiconductor manufatruing hub.”
Analysts argue that, “Singapore’s role as the largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows for India underscores Singapore’s importance in the export landscape.”
So far the percentage of the cumulative FDI inflows to India is concerned, it has been reportedly claimed that, “Singapore stands tall at 24.7% followed closely by Mauritius 23.7%, while FDI inflow to India from US is comparatively 10.4% and from UAE a mere 3.2%”.
