Singh & Associates to start Singapore Rep office by end of August; Looking at London and Hong Kong

Singh & Associates has been granted the representative office license by the Attorney General of Singapore and is set to launch its Singapore office by the end of August this year..Managing Partner Manoj Singh told Bar & Bench that the entire process of getting the licence was completed in about two and a half months. The licence was granted on June 29, 2013.The firm will be relocating Principal Associate and Bangalore Head, Rajdutt Singh to Singapore to head the office where another Associate will be joining him..On the decision to set up a ‘Rep office’ in Singapore, Manoj says that the 80% of the firm’s work comes from outside India. He says, “Most of the American and European companies have their offices in Singapore.” So he feels it will be good for the firm to have a presence there and be closer to the prospective clients..“We are also looking to pitch to Indian companies for their arbitration work in Singapore and as and when our work load increases we will expand our team in Singapore”, says Manoj..The firm is still in the process of finalising the office location in Singapore, which should be completed in next few days..Manoj also says that the firm is looking to expand in other countries as well. “The firm is looking to open offices in London and Hong Kong and is hoping that the offices would be operational by March 2014”..In August last year, Singh & Associates had set up an India Desk in China in association with Chinese law firm Guangda Law Firm, which Manoj says has been a huge success.