JAIPUR: Rajasthan government has joined hands with a Singapore-based company to build knowledge capabilities on the governance of sustainable water management and develop capabilities in urban water management in the state.
Government of Rajasthan and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) today signed an agreement at SMS convention centre here in the presence of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Singapore's Minister of Foreign Affairs K Shanmugam.
Principal Secretary PHED Dinesh Kumar signed the agreement on behalf of the state government while CEO of Singapore Cooperation Enterprises Kong Wy Mun signed on behalf of the SCE, an official statement said here.
According to the agreement Singapore Cooperation Foundation will provide assistance in advisory and capacity building programme for water management and recycle of waste water.
A series of workshops would be conducted to build capacity of 100 officials from PHED and other relevant departments of Rajasthan Government with the help of Temasek Foundation. The first such workshop began today.
Singapore Cooperation Enterprise will be the lead agency to aggregate a team of experts from Singapore, it said.
The areas which would be covered initially during this 18-month programme include urban water management, governance of waste water treatment and water management.
The Chief Minister, while speaking on the occasion, said she was happy that the process which began during her Singapore visit in October last year had resulted in the form of agreement.
"Visit of a big delegation of industrialists from Singapore shows we have succeeded in our mission. During my Singapore visit important issues like water management, skill development, urban planning were discussed and now the results coming in this short span of time were very encouraging.
"This agreement with Singapore will focus mainly on building capacities and knowledge in sustainable water management and waste water reuse," Raje said, adding that discussions regarding cooperation from ITE Education Services and 'Gardens by the Bay' also took place and there would be better outcome in the future.
"Now, we have signed agreement on water management. Joint ventures are expected in sectors like Automobiles, Engineering and PPP model also in the future," Raje said and added that she expects that Singapore would play an important role in the "Resurgent Rajasthan Conclave" to be held in this November.
Singapore Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam praised the progressive vision and determination shown by Rajasthan Chief Minister saying he was impressed by the pro-active approach of Raje to move Rajasthan ahead.
"Singapore is a small country and partnership with the states like Rajasthan in sectors such as skill development, water management, urban governance and hospitality will prove to be beneficial for both of us," Shanmugam said.