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Singapore’s Startup Culture Set to Grow through Partnership with South Korea

Singapore’s Startup Culture Set to Grow through Partnership with South Korea

Singapore’s foreign policy
hard line has always been to stay relevant to remain competitive. Deepening
bilateral trade ties with South Korea in the latest
inked partnership
achieves just that. Technological initiatives are
at the forefront.

Singaporean SMEs and
startups can expect more opportunities to venture into the Korean market. Two
Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) were signed on 12 July 2018 between Enterprise
Singapore (ESG), and South Korea’s Ministry of SMEs & Startups (MSS) and
the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA). The MOU hopes to boost a
technology centred collaboration and co-innovation between SMEs and startups.

Go Big; Don’t Stay Home

In recent years, the
Singapore government has intensified efforts to develop a bustling startup
ecosystem. Apart from providing generous grants to startups, the government has
also put in place supporting policy frameworks to ensure a startup’s success.
Startup SG for example was launched by the Ministry of Trade and Industry to
centralise support for local businesses.

However, for Singapore to punch above its weight, staying local isn’t an option. The
Singapore government has iterated that myopic or timid business models
will not stand a chance in the upcoming decade
. SMEs and startups
need to learn the best practices from businesses overseas and buzz for colossal
breakthroughs. These will eventually be implemented at home.

Local businesses are not
the only ones who stand to gain. Overseas businesses which wish to penetrate
the Singapore market are enthusiastically received as well. Attractive policies
have been drawn up; all in the name of encouraging an ebb and flow of
innovative technology.

What to Expect

To ensure such dynamism,
the government must make the first move. The MOU with MSS is exemplary. Entailed
with the MOU is a vision to provide landing pads for SMEs and startups in both
countries. Landing pads provide new businesses with crucial business advice,
and operating space and facilities.

With ESG’s assistance, MSS
will be the first to provide this in Singapore. Entrepreneurs can expect to
work with Korean counterparts in the new facility by the end of 2018. The
landing pad will run existing programs in association with current partners
such as the Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE). Through the landing
pad, ESG is optimistic that the government backed venture capital ecosystem
will spur new innovations.

However, SMEs and startups
aren’t the only ones who benefit. ESG’s partnership with KOTRA will ensure
mutual economic growth and development through business matching sessions. Some
key focus sectors worth mentioning under the partnership are Smart City
solutions, and e-commerce.  Within the
second half of 2018, the agency partners will explore collaborative
opportunities for Smart City.

Two is Better than One

South Korea boasts
world-class technology and experience. Thus, Singapore businesses stand to gain
tremendous tech insights from the stronger bilateral ties. Monies will also
naturally stream in. Already, both countries rank within each other’s top ten
trading partners. Singapore has invested USD 1.8 billion in 2017, and the total
volume of trade between the two countries amounted to SGD 45.4 billion. ESG is
optimistic that trade volumes will rise.

Large capitals are needed
to kickstart promising breakthroughs among startups and SMEs. Hence proactive
and astute governments are necessary if they want their economies to thrive
during economic uncertainty. So far, Singapore has demonstrated that it can, and
will, stay ahead of the curve. This is evidenced by the multiple tech-related
ventures it has already embarked on with Australia,
Germany,
and now South Korea. More strategic tech-centred bilateral partnerships can be
expected soon, given the Singapore government’s endeavour for a Smart
Nation. 

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

PARTNER

CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

PARTNER

Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

PARTNER

HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

PARTNER

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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