New Delhi, March 25: Telecom equipments made in India
and Singapore may have an easy entry in each others' market
from April with the two sides moving closer to operationalise
a pact that will eliminate the need for product testing and
certification in both countries.
Department of Telecom officials are currently in
Singapore and discussing with their counterparts the details
of mutual recognition agreement (MRA) so as to operationalise
the pact from April 1, official sources said.
The MRA is part of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation
Agreement (CECA) that the two countries signed in June 2005.
Implementation of MRA will abolish the need for testing
and certification in both countries. Instead, certification by
an agency of one country will be accepted by the other. This
will give easier access to companies to sell telecom and
electronic products such as mobile handsets.
Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) of Singapore and
Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC) of India will be the
technical certifying bodies, the sources said.
This means once products made in India are certified by
TEC for selling in Singapore, IDA will not have to certify
that the items adhere to local standards and regulations.
Both the countries will benefit with this arrangement
since it leads to cost reduction as well as faster and easier
access for companies wanting to tap the market.
Sources said it would be a big boost for the upcoming
telecom manufacturing sector in India as products made in the
country will now be acceptable in one of the highly developed
electronics market in the Asia Pacific.
India's telecom equipment and component manufacturing
industry is expanding. The removal of duplicate testing will
open up a bigger market for manufacturers - whether Indian or
MNC vendors - operating from here, to a more advanced and
mature electronics market of Singapore, they said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, March 25, 2007, 00:00