The EU and Singapore deepen business ties at the EU-Singapore Cluster Matchmaking Event 2023 under the EU-Singapore Administrative Arrangement on Cluster Cooperation
The matchmaking event was organised by the European Commission and Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) and supported by the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and the Singapore Business Federation (SBF). It took place on 30 October in Singapore, in conjunction with the Singapore Week of Innovation & Technology (SWITCH) and Agri-Food Tech Expo Asia (AFTEA) 2023. The visiting European delegation connected with leading industry players, attended thought leadership conferences and participated in curated site visits as part of SWITCH and AFTEA.
More than 200 one-to-one business matching meetings between clusters and businesses were arranged to explore collaborations in various sectors including Agrifood, Health Care and Biomedical Tech, Digital Tech, Smart Cities and Urban Solutions, Advanced Manufacturing, and Green Tech.
Speaking at the opening of the event, H.E. Iwona Piórko, European Union Ambassador to Singapore and Mr. Alan Yeo, EnterpriseSG’s Director for Europe, highlighted the strong economic and trade relations between the EU and Singapore, underpinned by the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA) and EU-Singapore Digital Partnership, as well as opportunities for more business collaborations in innovative technologies.
In the EU, clusters account for around 62 million jobs, representing almost 24% of total employment. In Singapore, TACs and COIs are instrumental in supporting Singapore enterprises in industry transformation, innovation and internationalisation efforts. Cluster-level collaboration plays an important role in opening pathways for EU and Singapore companies to access new markets and sectoral opportunities.
The EU-Singapore Cluster Matchmaking Event 2023 was held under the framework of the EU-Singapore Administrative Arrangement on Cluster Cooperation. This Arrangement was signed on 3 December 2020 on the occasion of the first anniversary of the entry into force of the EUSFTA by the MTI, EnterpriseSG and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW).
Within ASEAN, Singapore is the EU’s largest trade and investment partner. Combined EU-Singapore trade in goods and services continues to grow year-on-year. In 2021, total trade in goods and services reached €100.7B (S$146B), an increase of almost 10% as compared to 2020.
More in our media release:
Joint Media Release on EU-SG Cluster Matchmaking Event 2023
