Singapore, September 21, 2022 – This week, Singapore is the site of a sizable delegation of 24 cutting-edge British businesses looking to expand in the Asia Pacific region. They work on a variety of initiatives, such as deep tech, lawtech, and autonomous cars.
They will interact with Singaporean government organisations such as the Cyber Security Agency, the Defense Science and Technology Agency, GovTech, the Infocomm Media Development Authority, and the Ministry of Law during their week-long stay in Singapore, which is being hosted by the British High Commission.
These initiatives make up the inaugural UK-Singapore Digital Economy Dialogue, a platform to advance the advantages of electronic commerce, strengthen our alliances with both the public and private sectors, and make sure that legislation keeps up with the rate of innovation.
The brand-new UK-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement (DEA) will be used by the visiting firms to help their growth throughout the Asia Pacific region.
The Digital Economy Pact (DEA), the first between a European and an Asian country, is the most creative trade agreement in the world. Trade between the UK and Singapore currently exceeds £17 billion annually.
This week, Digital Nation, the top development platform for tech startups in the UK, is co-leading by setting up a delegation and a schedule of 90 meetings with business partners and investors.
Lawtech: a promising area for future development
Ten lawtech businesses from the UK are in Singapore to look for potential prospects in the Asia Pacific region.
The term “lawtech” is often used to refer to technology that assist, enhance, or replace conventional techniques used by law practise organisations or attorneys to offer legal services or conduct legal transactions.
The first trade deal in the world with explicit provisions on lawtech is the UK-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement. The legal technology market in the UK is estimated to be worth £11.4 billion by Tech Nation. The UK is second only to the US internationally in terms of the size of the legal services market.
The DEA brings together two top countries for legal services and will make it easier for businesses to find chances for cooperation in both markets.
It features special clauses that support electronic contracts and signatures, safeguard global data transfers, and guarantee the security of important private data.
Businesses may trade digitally between the UK and Singapore with more comfort and trust thanks to the DEA, both now and in the future.
British High Commissioner to Singapore Kara Owen stated:
At the British High Commission in Singapore, I am thrilled to welcome 24 UK technology businesses. They are eager to encourage their progress into Singapore and the area by using the brand-new UK-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement.
The agreement serves as a symbol of our desire to remove trade restrictions in industries like lawtech, data flows, and cyber security. Trade between the UK and Singapore is now worth over £17 billion annually, and it will only increase.
His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for the Asia Pacific, Natalie Black, stated:
I’m excited to welcome a group of cutting-edge UK IT businesses to Singapore so they may network with potential investors, partners, and consumers while looking for expansion prospects.
The remainder of Southeast Asia may be reached via Singapore, where the digital economy is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2030.
Scaleups are attracted to the area because of its openness and favourable demographics.
Our UK-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement will take full use of this chance by uniting two high tech countries in a dynamic agreement that keeps up with the rate of technological advancement.
According to Gabriel Lim, permanent secretary for trade and industry in the government of Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry:
We are pleased that the first Digital Economy Dialogue under the UK-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement will be taking place in Singapore when UK IT companies are here.
This is a chance to bring together key players in the sector to discuss how we can take use of this innovative agreement and support our companies, particularly startups and SMEs, in taking advantage of new growth prospects across our combined and expanding digital markets.
Tech Nation’s Director of International, Samantha Evans, stated:
Tech Nation is excited to welcome the third batch of elite UK tech businesses to Singapore as part of our International Growth Program. As they search for alliances and chances to enter and grow in this dynamic sector, the firms will meet with over 90 corporations and investors while they are in town.
We have already helped over 300 UK IT scaleups derisk and accelerate their expansion into Asia Pacific as a member of the UK government’s Digital Trade Network, with the majority of them aiming to scale into Singapore first.
We look forward to extending our collaboration with the UK and Singaporean governments to enable even more scaleups with their success in this area, given the need from British tech to expand into this area.