Yogi’s day out. UP CM on a rare foreign trip to Singapore & Japan

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday embarked on a four-day visit to Singapore and Japan , a trip that stands out for its rarity at a time when chief ministers from both large and small states routinely travel abroad multiple times a year for global investor summits, Davos meetings, and promotional roadshows across the US, Europe, and East Asia.

Scheduled from February 23 to 26, the visit includes two days in Singapore followed by two days in Japan. It is Adityanath’s first foreign tour since 2017 and only his third and fourth overseas destinations during an eight-year tenure as chief minister, underlining his otherwise restrained approach to international travel and overseas outreach.

During the visit, the chief minister is expected to meet representatives of 33 global companies , including 25 in Singapore and eight in Japan, through government-to-business engagements and investor roundtables. The discussions will focus on Uttar Pradesh’s industrial policy, land bank availability, expressway-driven connectivity, logistics infrastructure, and skill development ecosystem, with the state positioning itself as a competitive manufacturing and technology hub.

In Singapore, Adityanath is slated to engage with technology and infrastructure majors such as Google and ST Telemedia Global Data Centres on data centre investments, while agribusiness opportunities will be explored with Japfa Group and Olam International. Meetings with Mapletree Investments and AI-SATS are expected to cover logistics and infrastructure, alongside renewable energy discussions with EDPR Sunseap. Global investment funds including Temasek Holdings, GIC and Blackstone Inc are also on the engagement list.

The Japan leg of the tour will focus on manufacturing and advanced technology partnerships, with meetings planned with Suzuki Motor Corporation and Kubota Corporation in the automobile and engineering sectors. Semiconductor collaboration talks are expected with Tokyo Electron, while electronics manufacturing prospects will be discussed with Toshiba. Officials said green hydrogen, supply chain development and hospitality investments will also feature prominently.

Beyond investments, the chief minister will meet members of the Indian diaspora and students, presenting Uttar Pradesh’s development narrative and its ambition of becoming a one-trillion-dollar economy . The government said the visit aims to strengthen “Brand UP” globally under the ‘Make in UP’ initiative.

Politically, the tour is also being viewed as giving Adityanath much-needed international exposure , particularly amid persistent calls from sections of the Bharatiya Janata Party cadre that see him as a future national leader. Unlike the frequent overseas forays by many of his peers, the limited but targeted nature of this visit underscores both its strategic intent and its broader political significance.