TWENTY-FOUR British technology companies are in Singapore exploring growth opportunities in the Asia-Pacific, leveraging the landmark UK-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement (DEA) that entered into force in June this year.

The DEA – a treaty that establishes digital trade rules and digital economy collaborations – is Singapore’s third such agreement, after similar agreements with Chile and New Zealand, as well as Australia.

British High Commissioner to Singapore Kara Owen said: “The (UK-Singapore DEA) is a marker of our ambition to break down trade barriers in areas including lawtech, data flows and cybersecurity. UK-Singapore trade is already worth over £17 billion (S$27.3 billion) per year, and this is only set to grow.”

Among the firms in the delegation are 10 lawtech companies which offer technologies that support, supplement or replace traditional methods for the delivery of legal services by law practice entities or lawyers. They include Avvoka, an end-to-end document automation tool; and Cognitiv+, an artificial intelligence platform that empowers law firms with deeper insights into their legal data.

The UK-Singapore DEA is the world’s first trade agreement to contain specific commitments on lawtech. It has specific provisions that promote electronic contracts and signatures, secure international data flows, and ensure protection of key proprietary information.

The UK’s lawtech sector is valued at £11.4 billion, according to Tech Nation research. The UK has the largest legal services market in Europe and is second globally only to the US.

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The 24 companies are spending a week in Singapore, and they will meet government agencies including the Cyber Security Agency, Defence Science and Technology Agency, GovTech, the Infocomm Media Development Authority, and the Ministry of Law.

Tech Nation, the UK’s leading growth platform for tech companies and the co-leader of the delegation, said the group will also meet with 90 corporates and investors as they look for partnerships and opportunities.

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

Singapore’s Permanent Secretary for Trade and Industry Gabriel Lim welcomed the opportunity to bring together industry stakeholders to “explore how we can leverage this cutting-edge agreement and help our businesses, especially startups and small and medium-sized enterprises, to seize new growth opportunities across our combined and growing digital markets”.