Almost a decade after agreeing to mutually recognise qualifications of service providers in a number of sectors in each other’s countries, India and Singapore are close to sealing a deal that would ease rules for nurses.

“Our nurses are highly sought after. We have made some progress with Singapore and soon we should have some kind easing of rules related to movement of nurses,” said JS Deepak, Additional Secretary in the Commerce Ministry, at a press conference on Tuesday. Explaining why it took so long for India and Singapore to make headway in the area of mutual recognition agreements and why the country was yet to sign such agreements with Japan and South Korea, Deepak said that these processes required a lot of time and negotiations.

“It is a challenge. It requires reforms before it can happen,” he said.

India and Singapore signed a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement in 2005 which led to reduction in tariffs on several products.

The Government and the industry will discuss ways to boost services exports, including those of professionals, at a two-day services conclave beginning on Wednesday.

Specific issues to be discussed at the meet include reforming e-commerce policy, boosting IT/ITES sectors, and making firmer inroads into sectors such as health, education, tourism and yoga, Deepak added.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will also speak at the conclave organised by the Commerce Ministry and industry body CII.

Services push

The BJP-led Government, which is pushing manufacturing in a big way, is also now focussing its attention on services given the fact that the share of services in the country’s GDP was 57 per cent in 2013-14.

Exports of services in 2013-14 were estimated at $151.47 billion compared to goods exports worth $312.5 billion.

The Commerce Ministry will also organise a global services fair in New Delhi in April next year which is expected to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The conclave, to be attended by sectoral experts and professionals, will identify the challenge areas in services exports and strategise a road map for its sustained and accelerated growth.

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