Singapore launches market access programme with South Korea for bilateral business partnerships

SINGAPORE has launched a market access programme with South Korea, Rainmaking Expand Korea, giving companies from both countries access to government programmes and partnerships to expand.

Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry, Tan See Leng, announced the launch in his opening remarks for Rainmaking Expand Korea on Wednesday (Nov 10).

With the programme, Singapore startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can tap Korean government programmes and partnerships to expand to South Korea. With Rainmaking Expand Korea, the market access programme will allow Singapore companies to access business and partnership opportunities.

Some Singapore companies already in South Korea include rental e-scooter startup, Neuron Mobility, and radio frequency identification solution for libraries, Senserbot.

"Singapore startups and SMEs that forge partnerships through Rainmaking Expand Korea can receive funding for further development via joint innovation calls by the current partnership between Enterprise Singapore (ESG) and the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology under the Eureka Network," said Dr Tan.

This programme will complement earlier efforts like the K-Startup Centre in Singapore, launched by South Korea's Ministry of SMEs and Startups in July 2020 and supported by ESG. The centre was set up to help Singapore companies explore co-innovation opportunities with counterparts in South Korea and vice versa. Since its inception, K-Startup Centre has been tapped for 13 Korean startups to set up a presence in Singapore.

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Singapore aims to strengthen its position as a hub and gateway to South-east Asia, with Dr Tan welcoming Korean venture capitalists and conglomerates to invest in Singapore.

"We have seen an uptick in interest from Korean companies in the region in recent years," said Dr Tan.

ESG and Rainmaking Expand Korea aim to facilitate more cross-border partnerships in an effort to invigorate the ecosystems in both countries.

"It is my hope that our startups and SMEs will find the programme helpful in establishing themselves in the vibrant and exciting global innovation hub that is Korea," said Dr Tan.

Read more:

• Former founders of Rakuten's Viki launch venture builder in Singapore; to incubate more than 100 startups

• Vertex Growth secures US$15m funding from Korea Venture Investment Corp

• S-E Asia's first S Korean startup centre opens in Singapore