UK tech firms target regional expansion in Singapore

They aim to use the UK-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement for their expansion.

United Kingdom-based tech companies are looking at Singapore in their expansion to the Asia Pacific region and will leverage the UK-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement (DEA) to support regional growth.

In a statement, the UK Government said Singapore welcomed 24 British companies who are planning expansion in the region and exploring projects related to driverless vehicles, lawtech, cybersecurity, and deeptech.

The British firms aim to use the DEA, the first digital economy deal between a European nation and an Asian country, for their expansion in the Asia Pacific. Annually, the two markets’ trade is worth over £17bn per year.

“Singapore is a gateway to the rest of Southeast Asia, which has a digital economy projected to reach $1 trillion by 2030. The region has the demographics and openness that scaleups are looking for,” Natalie Black, UK Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific, said.

“Our UK-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement will make the most of this opportunity – bringing together two high-tech nations in a living agreement that keeps up with the pace of digital innovation,” she added.

Gabriel Lim, secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, said this is an opportunity as well to help businesses, particularly startups and SMEs, “to seize new growth opportunities across our combined and growing digital markets.”