Singapore, Germany sign framework for sustainability and innovation
Claudia Chong
SINGAPORE on Sunday (Nov 13) deepened its economic cooperation with Germany, its largest goods trading partner and fourth-largest services trading partner in the European Union (EU).
The Germany-Singapore Framework for Sustainability and Innovation (FSI) was signed by Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations S Iswaran and Germany Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck.
The signing was held at the evening reception for participants of the 17th Asia-Pacific Conference (APK) for German Business, held in Singapore.
The FSI will structure and deepen economic collaborations at the government-to-government, government-to-business and business-to business levels, said the Ministry of Trade and Industry in a statement.
It will promote private sector-led collaborations across sectors such as advanced manufacturing, mobility and green technologies, while facilitating cooperation in areas such as business matching, networking and workplace training, the ministry added.
In 2021, Singapore and Germany’s bilateral trade in goods totalled S$23.4 billion, accounting for almost 23 per cent of Singapore’s total goods trade with the EU. Bilateral trade in services exceeded S$7 billion in 2020. MTI noted that investment relations with Germany are strong, with two-way investment stock exceeding S$16 billion as at end-2020.
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“(The FSI) builds on the close and trusted economic partnership between Singapore and Germany,” said Iswaran. “It seeks to enable new sources of dynamism and growth for our bilateral economic cooperation through sustainability and innovation, and equip our businesses and workers with the skills, capabilities and networks to seize growth opportunities together.”
Sunday’s APK conference was the first to be held in person in four years, and attracted over 600 participants. The APK is the largest and most important German business conference in the Asia-Pacific.
Germany has been an attractive market to Singapore companies, given its strong base in manufacturing and innovation. As at 2020, Singapore companies have invested more than S$4.5 billion in Germany. More than 70 Singapore companies have a physical presence in there.
“Germany is a major economy in Europe with a big consumer market and strong advanced manufacturing capabilities. This continues to present opportunities for Singapore companies in areas such as retail and packaged foods as well as collaborations in tech sourcing and co-innovation,” said Clarence Hoe, executive director (Americas and Europe) at Enterprise Singapore.
“Increasingly, Enterprise Singapore sees greater opportunities for Singapore and German companies to collaborate in emerging areas of the green economy such as clean manufacturing, e-mobility and renewable energy.”
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