With an aim to strengthen bilateral business relations between Singapore and Germany, the German-Singaporean Business Forum 2014, held last week in Munich, Germany, focused on fostering partnerships in three key sectors: precision engineering, medical technology and clean technology. Along with networking seminars, a discussion was held on forging business partnerships to tap market opportunities in Asia. An MoU was signed between German and Singaporean business entities to explore opportunities in the carbon composites sector.
“The business ties between German and Singapore SMEs will take the technological capabilities of SMEs to the next level, thus helping them to better compete and serve growing markets in the Asian region. Access to German technology expertise will help Singaporean SMEs gain meaningful insights in the precision engineering, medtech and cleantech sectors,” commented Mr. James Nuben, Head of Taxation at Asiabiz Services.
Singapore and Germany forge industry ties
The biannual German-Singaporean Business Forum (GSBF) 2014 held in Germany, saw the participation of over 50 business leaders from 27 Singaporean SMEs. The forum laid emphasis on forging partnerships in said growing industry sectors. Three industry-specific programs were organized for getting insight into the German engineering technologies. A series of industry visits and networking seminars and business matching sessions were organized for engagement with German companies.
In 2013, with 21.7% of trade with EU, Germany was Singapore’s largest trading partner in the European Union. The weeklong program included visit to top German manufacturers like Siemens Healthcare, Sennebogen, Solarion and a few others, across various cities in Germany. “The bilateral relations between Singapore and Germany have grown over the years and will continue to strengthen in the years to come. We expect solid business outcome from this event,” added Nuben.
MoUs, Partnership Agreements
The business event witnessed partnerships between Singapore and German companies, the prominent one between International Enterprise (IE) and Composite Cluster Singapore (CCS). IE signed an MoU with CCS that will enable IE to identify projects and help CCS build its technical capabilities and establish a global track record in the carbon composites sector.
EDI Asia entered into a business partnership with German company, Biolak Technology to represent their bio-gas technology in Southeast Asia. EDI, will in turn, explore technology knowhow of the German company to excel in its own projects, thus creating a win-win situation. In the medical technology sector, wearable product specialist T.Ware, will start its product trials at two German autism centres, to work with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and also individuals with the Aspergers syndrome. “The MoUs and partnership agreements will only encourage more German companies to work with their Singapore counterparts to capitalize on each other’s strengths and create a meaningful symbiotic relationship between the two industries,” affirmed Nuben.
Focus on market opportunities in Asia
Asian market being huge and most of it being untapped, presents a plethora of opportunities to the developed world. On the side lines of the networking session with German companies, a panel discussion was held on “Forging Meaningful Partnerships to Address Market Opportunities in Asia”. Panelists from both German and Singapore companies presented their views on enhancing collaboration to explore engineering opportunities in Asia. The German ambassador from Singapore also urged German companies to enter into business ties with SMEs from Singapore.
“Asia cannot be ignored now. The west is still coming out of recession and in order to provide the necessary impetus to grow its distressed nations, it has to successfully make the most out of the emerging opportunities in Asia. Singapore, with an excellent business infrastructure stands to gain from this trend. A number of companies from the western developed nations are expected to set their Asian hub in Singapore in the days to come,” concluded Nuben.
