Singapore’s Senior Minister of State (SMS) for Trade and
Industry & National Development, Dr Koh Poh Koon, officially launched
the Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) Bangkok in Thailand on 27 April.
GIA Bangkok aims to strengthen innovation linkages between
Singapore and Bangkok and serve as an entry point for Singapore entities to
connect with the local innovation and business community.
The GIA was a key recommendation in the Committee on the
Future Economy (CFE)
2016 report. It was launched in 2017 to strengthen Singapore’s
connections to major innovation hubs around the world. Singpore's Economic Development Board (EDB) has set up the GIA Programme Office to
coordinate the overall initiative and work closely with Enterprise Singapore.
With this launch, Bangkok will be an active node of the GIA
network across cities including Beijing,
Jakarta and San Francisco. Through
partnerships with players from the tech ecosystem including tech companies,
accelerators, co-working spaces, Venture Capital (VC) funds and the local
government, GIA Bangkok, led by Enterprise
Singapore, will:
- Make it easier for Singapore startups to access the market
for business opportunities - Drive partnerships between Singapore and Thai startups to
co-create innovative solutions - Build a pipeline of talent for entrepreneurship and
innovation by enabling Singapore startups and students to understand and
experience Thailand’s tech landscape through internships and programmes.
Thailand is the second largest economy in Southeast Asia,
after Indonesia. It has a high mobile and internet penetration, and a
digitally-savvy population active on social media. According to TechSauce, funding for startups in Thailand
increased from S$2.75 million in 2012 to S$360 million by 2017. The number of
VCs and corporations investing into startups also increased to over 90 in 2017
from 74 in 2016. The Thai government has also been increasingly supportive of
tech startups. The Thai government agency responsible for driving
digitalisation efforts in Thailand, the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA), provides financial support for
startups and investors, tax exemptions for co-working spaces and VCs, as well
as launch special visas to make it easier for startups to hire foreign talent.
In
August 2017, Enterprise Singapore signed two MOUs with C asean and HUBBA to provide programmes and office
spaces respectively for Singapore startups keen to enter Thailand. The GIA
Bangkok launch was held at the end of a five-day long immersion programme run
by C asean.
Mr
Png Cheong Boon, Chief Executive Officer, Enterprise Singapore, said, “Thailand
is a growing market for startups, given the strong push from its government
towards a more innovative economy with the Thailand 4.0 initiative, as well as
strong support from the private sector. Enterprise Singapore will help our
startups plug into the Thai tech ecosystem and create market access
opportunities in the growing market.”
Said
Mr Desmond Tan, Head of Business Development at Bountie, one of the eight
Singapore startups who participated in the programme, “With the growing digital
ecosystem in Thailand, we see great potential in the demand for our eservices.
The C asean immersion programme gave us on-ground, practical insights and tips
into entering the gaming market in Thailand. This really helps us better
understand the market. We look forward to more opportunities in Thailand with
the launch of GIA Bangkok.”
Several
partnerships were launched today In line with the three above-mentioned
objectives.
True Digital Park –
ACE Singapore Centre
Singapore’s Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE [1])
and True Digital Park signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to launch the
True Digital Park – ACE Singapore Centre. This will help Singapore startups access
the market more easily by setting up their base in the True Digital Park – ACE
Singapore Centre.
The centre will be housed in the True Digital Park, a global
innovation ecosystem for both Thai and international startups, VCs and
accelerators, as well as the R&D and innovation units of top companies. The
Park is expected to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2018. It will comprise
a 100,000 sqm residential area, 77,000 sqm innovation area, and 28,000 sqm
commercial area.
Startups can also participate in ACE’s market access and
innovation programmes that will provide business connections, co-innovation
opportunities, advisory services, and mentorship to facilitate market access.
This will help strengthen the internal capabilities of the startups, enabling
them to expand overseas.
ACE also signed an MOU with The
Finlab, a fintech and SME accelerator that is a joint venture between UOB bank and SGInnovate (a private-limited company
wholly-owned by the Singapore Government which aims to develop the deep tech
ecosystem in Singapore). Finlab will hold accelerator programmes in the
Singapore Centre for both Singapore and Thai startups.
MOU between Finlab,
UOB Thailand and Digital Economy Promotion Agency
To foster greater collaboration in innovation, GIA Bangkok
will continue to build a wider network of in-market partners that Singapore
tech companies can leverage.
DEPA, the United Overseas Bank (Thai) (UOB(Thai)), and The
FinLab have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) tox` establish a Smart
Business Transformation programme aimed at helping Thai SMEs with digital
transformation. They will get to pilot projects with selected technology
providers curated by The Finlab, from Thailand and Singapore.
Internship opportunities in Thailand
for Ngee Ann Polytechnic students
Ngee Ann Polytechnic signed seven MOUs with Thai startups
and companies, (namely HUBBA, Infofed, Peer Power, Techsauce, PHOENIXICTSINWATTANA
Crowdfunding and True Digital Park) and a Singapore company with presence in
Thailand (Shopback) as part of its Global Entrepreneurial Internship Programme
(GEIP) providing students with internship opportunities in technology
organisations around the world.
Through
the MOUs, students from Ngee Ann Polytechnic will have access to internship
opportunities in Thailand, allowing them to experience and gain exposure to the
business and tech scene in Bangkok.
These
internships are 22 weeks long, with the first batch having commenced their
internships since March 2018. Ngee Ann Polytechnic expects to send 100 students
annually on such internships to 10 cities including Bangkok.
[1] ACE was launched
in 2003 by Singapore’s Ministry of Trade & Industry as a national effort to
foster innovation and entrepreneurship in Singapore. It was re-restructured in
2014 as a private-led initiative supported by the government to continue its
national mandate to drive entrepreneurship initiatives in Singapore.
