Enterprise Singapore and the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) encourage partnerships between German and Singapore companies as they are important co-innovation and technology partners for local enterprises to enhance their value proposition.
There are good collaboration opportunities in Germany for Singapore startups and SMEs in the areas of transport and logistics, manufacturing and engineering, healthcare and medical technology and built environment.
To facilitate these partnerships, Enterprise Singapore led a transport and logistics business mission in early December, comprising six local startups and SMEs to understand digital connectivity and smart port initiatives in German cities such as Hamburg.
The mission also aimed to build cross-border partnerships in trade and connectivity innovation by identifying business opportunities between Singapore and German companies. To understand Germany’s transport and logistics ecosystem, and supply chain networks, the participating companies will be holding discussions with key Port of Hamburg stakeholders, corporate venture capitalists, and maritime players whom Enterprise Singapore’s German partners work closely with.
SBF, with the support of Enterprise Singapore, also led a business delegation of 10 companies to establish networks, explore partnerships and expand their businesses in sectors such as built environment, manufacturing, and professional services. The delegation will embark on two separate tracks, namely “Education, Entrepreneurship & Innovation” and “Advanced Manufacturing & Engineering”, and conduct meetings and site visits with German companies and government agencies.
Both business delegations from Enterprise Singapore and SBF participated in the business roundtable Germany-Singapore: A Future-Ready Partnership and witnessed the MOU signing ceremony organised by the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) on 9 December 2019.
Nine MOUs were signed at the roundtable. In three of them, the countries agreed to enhance and deepen the collaboration between Germany and Singapore in various fields including infrastructure, trade, energy, information technology, and science; facilitate more co-innovation opportunities for Singapore startups and SMEs; and Raise awareness and visibility of regional infrastructure and business opportunities for Singapore and German companies through information sharing and knowledge building, via workshops and marketing initiatives.
Mr Ho Meng Kit, CEO, SBF, noted that “Singapore and Germany have always enjoyed close bilateral ties, evident in the numerous government-level and enterprise-level agreements and partnerships inked between both countries.”
“As the largest economy in Europe with a highly-skilled workforce and well-developed infrastructure, Germany is an attractive market for Singapore businesses to expand into”, he continued, adding that Singaporean companies could also “leverage the European Union-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA) which recently came into force to gain competitive advantage for their goods and services”.
