New Delhi: India and Singapore are making progress in signing mutual recognition agreement for para- medical courses that will make it easier for domestically trained nurses to get work in the South East Asian country.
"Our nurses are highly sought after...we have made some progress in Singapore and soon we should have some kind of movement of nurses," Additional Secretary in the Commerce Ministry J S Deepak today said here.
While India and Singapore have reduced customs duty on goods since the implementation of the free trade agreement in 2005, they are yet to sign the mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) that honour each other's educational and professional qualifications.
Once the agreement is signed, degree/certificates given by Indian institutes would be valid in Singapore.
India is yet to sign MRAs with Japan and South Korea with which the country has implemented comprehensive free trade pacts.
Deepak said that these processes takes time. "It is a challenge, it require reforms before it can happen," he said, adding "(services) trade is a slow process".
