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Deepening Singapore-Sichuan Innovation Relations

Singapore’s Interest in Sichuan

Sichuan is known as the province of abundance in China. Since Deng Xiaoping’s ‘Go West’ policy in 2000 to promote inland development, Sichuan’s GDP far outweighed the national rate, branding itself as driver of China’s economic growth.

An area of significant growth in Sichuan is Chengdu, the provincial capital and most prosperous city in the region. As the biggest driver of growth within Sichuan, the city is keen on developing “six new economic forms”. These include a mature digital economy and a smart economy to advance the region.

Recognising the region’s potential twenty-two years ago, Singapore and Sichuan have had a long history of economic relations. The Singapore-Sichuan Trade and Investment Committee (SSTIC) was set up in May 1996 as a bilateral economic framework to strengthen Singapore’s economic relations with the Sichuan province. SSTIC is a public and private initiative.

Six years ago, work began in Sichuan to develop an integrated urban development. Jointly launched by Singapore and Sichuan government, the Singapore-Sichuan Hi-Tech Innovation Park (SSCIP) is designed to be a town driven by innovative technologies and enterprises. A city of the future, SSCIP combines Singapore’s urban planning expertise with Sichuan’s rich resources.

MOU Details

Almost a year to the expected date of completion in 2020, Enterprise Singapore announced a host of Singapore companies ink twelve technology and innovation Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs). Another ten MoUs relating to education, lifestyle, logistics and tourism were signed.

Trade between Sichuan and Singapore reached a trade volume of USD 1 billion last year, a year-on-year increase of 21.5%. In 2018, Singapore hopes to be a part of Sichuan’s focus on integrating itself into the national Belt Road Initiative and Yangtze River Economic Belt strategies.

These initiatives hold a significant amount of potential for Singapore and Chinese companies to work on high-tech development projects. The press release notes business partnerships in the areas of transport and logistics, trade and financial connectivity and professional services. Sichuan is looking to attract investments to upgrade its industries by promoting technology and e-services in traditional sectors.

These innovations are significant as both parties’ economies are innovation driven. The MoUs facilitate a flurry of idea exchange and launches opportunities for innovation co-creation. Thus, deeper collaboration in tech and innovation will benefit both economies.

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are not lukewarm to the opportunities Sichuan provides. The press release reports close to thirty such businesses which have taken a leap of faith into the Chinese market with the help of Enterprise Singapore. Singapore SMEs use China as a launchpad to test the viability and demand for their product before scaling up.

One such example is a homegrown cloud-tagging solutions company. Just last week, the company launched its first unmanned supermarket and food booth in CaptiaMall, Meili City, Chengdu, China.

A key area of focus for most of the MoUs is in creating co-working spaces and incubators. These are more than just a cool millennial hype. Disruptive economies question traditional work practices and focuses on collaborative environments to buzz ideas. Co-working spaces work to improve space inefficiencies and overcome policing type environments.

One of the incubators in Chengdu will work with a Singapore based fintech incubator to provide a shared facility for fintech, blockchain, artificial intelligence and big data related startups.

Industries which may expect to see a tech revolution from the partnership are education, healthcare, tourism, food and beverage, and surprisingly even livestock.

However, it isn’t a one-sided affair. Sichuan companies can also leverage on Singapore’s established capital market to fund their expansion into the region or investment opportunities in countries along the Belt and Road.

Minister Ng Chee Meng, Minister in Prime Minister’s Officer (Singapore) said, “Singapore is an ideal partner for Sichuan companies to expand regionally and offer services in areas related to trade connectivity, financing and professional services.”

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.

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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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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