The best port in a storm: Why tech businesses are flocking to Singapore

For almost its entire history, Singapore has been a place where connections are made. As early as the 1300s, Malay, Indian and Chinese traders exchanged goods in the region. Europeans followed a few centuries later, in pursuit of commodities like cloth, spices, gold. Singapore became a free port in 1819, which helped it become a thriving strategic centre on the Maritime Silk Road.

From a cosmopolitan port city under colonial administration, an independent Singapore emerged, determined to press its advantages - and to use the lessons it learned from its mercantile past to transform its economy into a leader. Instinctively, Singapore’s leaders understood the value of being a place where connections are made; not just where traders meet each other, but where entrepreneurs can find investors, where MNCs can find a workforce, where foreign investors can find new customers.

Singapore is still the best place to make those connections, especially for the newest crop of tech disruptors who are revolutionizing the global economy and changing the way we live.

At present, the global economic and geopolitical environments are challenging, and investors are harder for tech companies to find. The upside is that the tech companies who can weather this storm are likely to have staying power. And there’s no better place for them to steady the ship and chart a course towards future growth than Singapore.

Much as Singapore’s founders sought to build on the city-state’s strengths by expanding into manufacturing, finance and then tech, its current leaders see the value of investing in disruptive and innovative businesses. Singapore is doubling down on tech leaders.

Today, nearly half of Southeast Asia’s unicorns, and investments from about 80 of the top 100 global tech firms. But at the IMDA, we’re more interested in the more than 4200 start-ups who are following in their footsteps with innovative technology and new business models. These businesses come from as far as China, Japan, Israel and the US. And they could succeed anywhere – but they choose Singapore.

Our four-pronged approach – involving partnership, access, people and global perspective – leans on the very best of Singaporean culture to attract the world’s most disruptive companies. Along with the opening of the world after a global pandemic – these four pillars offer us a moment-in-time opportunity that could be hugely lucrative for Singapore.

Using true trader hustle, we are seeking out and partnering with the best start up ecosystem organisations around the world. From Japan to Australia, Israel to the Nordics and the UK to Spain – we have teamed up with them to focus on the added-value of Singapore in helping disruptive startups from both ecosystems to test-and-learn, to build enterprise scale or to help meet their vision to address some of the biggest challenges in the world via technology.

The IMDA accreditation program is the vehicle that helps these promising companies establish credentials and position themselves as qualified contenders to government and large enterprise buyers around the world. It doesn’t include direct financial incentives, but there are still huge benefits for partners and their portfolio companies in progressing through accreditation.

For example, in China we partner with TusStar, which is part of Tsinghua University’s ecosystem, the largest startup and innovation network in China with over 170 centers covering all major cities in China. The first IMDA-TusStar MOI was signed in October 2019 and led to the creation and co-curation of four joint events. After identifying 88 promising Chinese deep tech start-ups, four of them landed in Singapore within the first six months.

Source: The Business Times ©️ SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.