Korea-Singapore Strengthen Startup Partnership for Global Leap

<기사제목>Ministry of SMEs and Startups Holds Bilateral Meeting with Singapore Enterprise Agency

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups held a bilateral meeting with the Singapore Enterprise Agency in the agency's conference room on the 26th.

Singapore is a key partner country for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in startup cooperation. They have been actively collaborating every year in various fields, including operating startup mutual entry accelerating programs and participating in startup events in both countries (Han-COMEUP, Sing-SWITCH).

Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups visited the Singapore Enterprise Agency on the 26th and met with Lee Chuan Teck, Chairman of the Singapore Enterprise Agency, to discuss ways to strengthen startup cooperation. (Photo by Ministry of SMEs and Startups)

In July 2018, the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on SME and startup cooperation in Singapore in the presence of their respective heads of state. Subsequently, in 2020, the K-Startup Center (KSC) was established in Singapore to focus on supporting Korean startups' entry into the Singaporean and Southeast Asian markets.

During this meeting, the focus was on renewing the bilateral MOU, which had expired since its signing in 2018, and discussing support policies for startups, including promoting local market entry and exchanges between startups of both countries.

Meanwhile, Singapore, as a financial and industrial hub of Asia, has been the country with the most regional headquarters of companies in the Asia-Pacific region over the past decade as of 2023. With large-scale policy support in fields such as fintech, healthcare, artificial intelligence, and blockchain, active capital movement and investment attraction between countries are taking place.

Minister Oh Young-joo stated, “Korea and Singapore are key partners in the startup and SME sectors, and through this meeting, I hope that mutual cooperation in the startup field between the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Singapore Enterprise Agency will be further strengthened.”