Singapore has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business (APA) to speed up industrial and digital transformation, announced the two organisations on Oct 15.
Under the MOU, Enterprise Singapore and APA will jointly organise sector-specific events, held throughout the year, to facilitate more frequent collaborations between German and Singapore companies.
Titled Germany Singapore Business Forum (GBSF) Connect, the refreshed scheme will see the first edition dedicated to the manufacturing sector, to be held virtually during Industrial Transformation ASIA-PACIFIC 20203 on Oct 21.
A second edition of GSBF Connect will be held during the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology on Dec 9.
Peter Ong, Chairman of Enterprise Singapore and Co-Chair of GSBF Connect, says enterprises need to connect with one another in this changing business environment.
“Germany and Singapore are trusted partners who place a high emphasis on delivering quality and innovative products and services. The MOU between Enterprise Singapore and APA will cement this commitment to help our companies collaborate and leverage each other’s strengths,” says Ong.
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Germany ranks among Singapore’s top trading partners in the European Union, with annual total trade in goods amounting to over $21 billion in 2019 and annual total services trade amounting to over $9 billion in 2018. Today, there are close to 2,000 German companies based in Singapore.
As an umbrella organisation of leading business federations, the APA will help open doors and build bridges between German and Singapore companies, according to a press release.
Singapore and German SMEs have collaborated in co-innovation projects under the Germany-Singapore SME Funding Programme, jointly managed by Enterprise Singapore, and AiF Projekt GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
More recently, a new four-way partnership between Singapore Polytechnic, German testing, inspection and certification company TÜV SÜD, industrial automation leader Delta Electronics and Singapore’s Smart I4.0 Transformation Alliance (SiTA) was announced on Oct 14.
The Advanced Manufacturing Learning Journey at Singapore Polytechnic will guide Singapore SME manufacturers, starting with Smart Industry Readiness Index (SIRI) assessments by TÜV SÜD, to customised technology solutions from SiTA and Delta Electronics, as well as workforce upskilling programmes from Singapore Polytechnic.
