200 local businesses to get help in overseas expansion

INTERNATIONAL Enterprise (IE) Singapore and United Overseas Bank (UOB) are looking to assist 200 Singapore companies in their expansion overseas, especially in South-east Asia, China, Japan and Europe, over the next three years.

Companies that will benefit from the collaboration include consumer-related sectors, business services, digital solutions, infrastructure, real estate, tourism, hospitality, logistics and trade.

This comes after the two parties signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday, making it IE Singapore's first strategic partnership with a local lender.

The partnership will provide Singapore companies with customised trade and financing solutions, deeper access to in-market connections, business partners and professional service providers across Asia, including business tie-ups with UOB's global clients.

The collaboration taps the rising potential of Asean, especially in intra-regional trade.

In the past five years, intra-Asean trade almost doubled, from US$332 billion to US$600 billion in 2015, and total intra-regional trade is expected to hit US$1 trillion in 2020.

Businesses are looking to the region's growing middle-income class, increasing connectivity and expansion of e-commerce to create greater demand for goods and services, in turn driving up cross-border and business-to-business transactions.