SINGAPORE: Singapore will name an orchid after Narendra Modi to honour him when the Prime Minister visits the city-state on November 23 to sign a strategic partnership document between the two countries and deliver the prestigious Singapore lecture.

Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan have orchids named after them in Singapore while former PMs Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee had declined the offer in the past.

Modi, who will have to cut short his visit from his original two-day plan due to upcoming winter session of Parliament, will be delivering the prestigious Singapore lecture. The lecture, at the Shangri La hotel will be attended by world leaders and the who’s who from India’s second-largest FDI investor . They will include politicians, diplomats, industry leaders, people from academia and Singapore community leaders.

Singapore, which is incidentally celebrating its 50th anniversary, is expecting Modi to deliver something on India’s role in the South East Asia region and how economic ties could be further strengthened between the two countries.

A senior Singapore government official said that “they would like India to playing offensive rather than defensive (on the economy)”. “I would like to see India being aggressive to push its development agenda and really work towards it by reforming the bureaucracy and laws dealing with the industry,” said the official, who has worked with several Indian leaders over decades.

The Singapore official added that “there is better comfort level in bilateral dialogues with India than China or Japan. We are bringing branding, knowledge, soft skills and systems knowledge and we are hopeful that Prime Minister Narendra Modi takes this friendship one step ahead”.

In his jam packed one-day schedule, Modi will also be addressing an economic convention which will be attended by a gathering of around 1,000 industry leaders, executives from financial institutions in Singapore, MNCs and companies having and planning investment in India.

The businessmen in Singapore are keen to give Modi feedback on “ease of doing business in India”.

A government official said, “This economic lecture is being organized by the trade industry itself and many companies here are keen to address issues related to difficulties faced by them while doing business in India. They want to share their concerns on other related issues since India is a huge market and Singapore is its second largest FDI investor”.

During Modi’s visit, six MoUs are likely to be signed between two countries on strengthening strategic partnership between two countries, primarily in the area of skill development, improved defence ties, urban development, maritime training, ports, water and waste management and technical expertise.

Sources on both sides told TOI that “one of the MoUs will deal with cyber-terrorism joint cooperation in the age of radical outfits using social network to breed new age militants”.

On the lines of his address to Indian diaspora in US and UAE, Modi will be addressing a huge gathering of 17,000 Indians in the island country, who are excited about the PM’s visit there. The event is being organized at Singapore Expo Convention and Exhibition Centre by Indian community itself.

Modi will also be visiting Singapore’s Institute of Technical Education, which is a post-secondary education institution that provides career-oriented technical education and training programs to youngsters who are not good in academics in their primary education. ITE has partnered with Delhi government on skill development and Rajasthan government on training about 500 youths in tourism and hospitality. Singapore is looking to train Indian youngsters through ITE in north-eastern states as well.

After Modi’s visit, President Pranab Mukherjee will visit Singapore in January to further discuss partnership between the two countries.