Minister Han Sungsook Discusses Venture and Startup Cooperation in Singapore: "A Global Gateway"

Establishing a $300 Million K-VCC by 2030
Exploring Investment Collaboration with Overseas Venture Capitalists

Minister Han Sungsook of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups met with business leaders in Singapore during President Lee Jaemyung's visit and discussed ways to enhance cooperation between the two countries' venture companies and startups.

Minister Han Sung-sook of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups met with Lee Chuan Teck, Chairman of Enterprise Singapore, in Singapore on the 2nd (local time) and took a commemorative photo after their bilateral meeting. Ministry of SMEs and Startups

On March 3, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that on March 1, Minister Han met with branch managers of major Korean banks operating in Singapore, the head of the Korea Investment Corporation’s Singapore office, and Korean executives and staff from large local banks. She listened to updates on Singapore’s financial and investment trends and discussed ways to foster cooperation in venture investment between Korea and Singapore.

During this meeting, Minister Han called for the creation of collaborative channels between financial institutions in both countries to facilitate joint investment opportunities and to develop models for startups to enter overseas markets together. She urged all parties to strengthen their cooperation in these areas.

On March 2, she attended the “Korea-Singapore AI Connect Summit” with President Lee, where they discussed strategies for leading the global AI market through cooperation. In the first session on “Investment,” Minister Han pledged to establish a 300 million dollar global mother fund (K-VCC) in Singapore by 2030 to support promising startups in the AI and deep tech sectors from both countries.

To date, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups has managed 19 funds totaling 1.8 billion dollars in Singapore and the ASEAN region through its global fund program. Based on this experience, the ministry plans to establish the K-VCC in Singapore in the second half of this year to attract Korean investment and support promising AI startups from both countries.

Minister Han also held a roundtable with Korean entrepreneurs operating in Singapore, meeting with representatives from three local Korean startups, global companies, and experts to assess the latest developments in Singapore’s startup ecosystem.

Additionally, she met with venture capitalists from Singapore and the ASEAN region to discuss ways to increase investment in Korean startups. Overseas venture capitalists from Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam shared case studies of investing in Korean startups and highlighted successful models of investment collaboration. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups introduced the K-VCC and proposed further avenues for investment cooperation to the attending overseas venture capitalists.

Minister Han Seongsuk of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups met with Lee Chuan Teck, Chairman of the Singapore Enterprise Agency, in Singapore on the 2nd (local time) and took a commemorative photo after a bilateral meeting. Ministry of SMEs and Startups

During the bilateral meeting with the Chairman of the Singapore Enterprise Agency, the focus was on strengthening cooperation between the two countries. Minister Han requested Singapore’s active participation in the “APEC Startup Alliance,” which was launched under Korea’s initiative at the “2025 APEC SME Ministerial Meeting” in September last year. She proposed using the alliance as a key platform to solidify the cooperation network between Korea and Singapore.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups also introduced major domestic AI startup support policies, such as the OpenData X AI Challenge and the Deep Tech Challenge Project (DCP), as it sought ways to collaborate with Singapore in these areas.

Minister Han stated, “Singapore is a global financial hub and the optimal gateway and partner for our ventures and startups to advance globally. We will further strengthen the partnership between our two countries’ ventures and startups to ensure that Korean ventures and startups can successfully expand into global markets.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.