Swiss-Singapore business ties expanding: SwissCham chief

BUSINESS relations between Switzerland and Singapore are strong and have continued to expand over the past year despite the difficult situation created by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the chairman of SwissCham Singapore, the Swiss Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Singapore.

Bilateral trade continues to grow steadily and the stock of Swiss foreign direct investment (FDI) in Singapore has hit a new high, says Georg von Wattenwyl, chairman of Swiss

Cham Singapore in an interview with The Business Times.

Overall, Singapore remains Switzerland's most important trading partner in South-east Asia and in Asia, the Republic is Switzerland's fourth largest trading partner after China, India and Japan.

"The chemical and pharmaceutical industry exports are getting stronger and are still dominant, with products totalling 2.8 billion Swiss francs (S$4.2 billion) exported to Singapore last year. There was a value increase of 11.6 per cent in 2020, though it was slower than the 26.6 per cent increase recorded in the previous year," says Mr von Wattenwyl.

While people did not spend large sums of money on tourism and leisure activities during the pandemic, they spent more on fashion and luxury products. For this reason, watches, clocks, precision instruments and jewellery continue to be in the second spot in Swiss exports to Singapore at 1.3 billion Swiss francs.

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The good news is that Swiss imports of goods from Singapore including gold and other precious metals grew significantly to 3.8 billion Swiss francs in 2020, registering a huge 46.6 per cent jump.

Taking a closer look, Swiss imports from Singapore excluding gold and other precious metals shot up to 3.5 billion Swiss francs with an even stronger 60.1 per cent increase. Chemical and pharmaceutical products, precision instruments, clocks, watches and jewellery were the main goods imported by Switzerland amounting to 86.84 per cent of total imports, says Mr von Wattenwyl.

"Furthermore, Singapore is driving towards a knowledge-based economy that can tackle the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The main sectors are electronics, energy, environment, information communications technologies (ICT) and logistics. Growth sectors include fintech, foodtech, aerospace and outer space technology, digital technology, data analytics, 3D printing, automation, and the Internet of Things (IoT)," he adds.

FINTECH GATEWAY TO ASIA

"Singapore also has positioned itself as a fintech gateway to Asia, driven by the tremendous support from the government and its solid economic fundamentals. Switzerland supports this revolution with innovative companies."

The SwissCham chief says that Swiss direct investment in Singapore rose by 12.9 per cent to S$68.5 billion in 2019, continuing a strong upward trend seen in recent years. Switzerland is the ninth largest investor in Singapore.

"The main sectors of Swiss corporate presence in Singapore are the financial and insurance, wholesale and retail trade, as well as production. All the major Swiss financial institutions and insurance companies are represented in Singapore...

"Swiss banks are mainly involved in private banking, with UBS and Credit Suisse being the largest Swiss employers in Singapore but also with smaller important institutions like Vontobel. Business services, medtech, foodtech, logistics and ICT investments have grown in recent years. This is in line with Swiss companies leveraging Singapore's position as a hub into South-east Asia and the Asia-Pacific region," he adds.

Turning to key new Swiss investment projects in Singapore in the recent past, the SwissCham chief says that Switzerland shone again with the opening of new R&D centres here such as the opening of an innovation centre dedicated to plant-based protein food by Buehler and Givaudan. The innovation centre will welcome food processing companies, startups and university researchers looking to develop novel plant-based food products.

"In 2019, the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) announced the development of a new and comprehensive long-term strategy to make sustainable finance a defining feature of Singapore's role as an international financial centre. A financial industry task force set up by it launched in May this year several initiatives to accelerate green finance in Singapore through improving disclosures and fostering green solutions," says Mr von Wattenwyl.

"Many Swiss financial organisations are providing good solutions when it comes to ESG (environmental, social, and governance) or green finance investing. On top of that, SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) and SBI Digital Asset Holdings announced in December 2020 their intention to form a joint venture which, subject to regulatory approvals from Singapore's monetary authority, should go into operation by 2022...

"The Swiss digital assets bank Sygnum successfully received a capital markets services (CMS) licence from the MAS in October 2019. Sygnum successfully tokenised its shares in December 2020, making it the world's first bank to issue its shares on a distributed ledger. The tokenisation of the company's own shares lays the foundation for a possible future IPO (initial public offering) of Sygnum, which includes a potential double listing in Switzerland and Singapore in cooperation with the SIX Digital Exchange (SDX)," says the SwissCham chief.

Furthermore, he says that several leading Swiss educational institutions are prominently represented in Singapore. The University of St Gallen (HSG) and its St Gallen Institute of Management in Asia (SGI) located here in Singapore are the only branch offices outside of Switzerland, and ETH Zurich's Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC) is in the research area. Meanwhile, Switzerland's ZHAW School of Management and Law plans to sign a partnership agreement with the Nanyang Technological University as soon as the situation allows.

Among the private institutions, the Ecole hoteliere de Lausanne (EHL) opened a new on-site campus - EHL Campus (Singapore). The Hotel and Tourism Management Institute (HTMi) and the IMD Business School in Singapore are also very active in the region. EHL plans to formally open its Asia campus in Singapore in autumn 2021, he adds.

No doubt, the past 12 months have been a challenging time for the business community, as businesses in Singapore have had to cope with the immense challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

IMPACT OF COVID-19

"All companies in Singapore, whether they are Swiss, international or local, have faced challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, in the chamber, we have noticed that not all companies face the same obstacles," says the SwissCham chief.

"On the one hand, some members benefited from the pandemic such as companies in the finance, technology or pharma sectors. On the other hand, we noticed that members from the F&B, tourism, hospitality, events or retail industries struggled financially because of the pandemic."

According to the Swiss Business Hub Asean, Embassy of Switzerland and SwissCham Singapore, which conducted a joint survey to understand Swiss companies' challenges during the pandemic in September 2020, 74 per cent of respondents said that the steps taken by the Singapore government to support the economy are sufficient and effective. 32 companies responded to the survey.

"That being said, a portion of that group of respondents - 64 per cent, also highlighted that more could still be done, and some examples included the provision of more clarity in international travel to allow for business continuity within the region and more measures to clear up the uncertainties faced within the business environment of all industries," says the SwissCham chief.

The Swiss embassy's long-running estimate is that around 400 Swiss companies operate in Singapore, which in turn employ 25,000 staff.

Asked how SwissCham carried out its activities over the past year given the many restrictions on meetings in Singapore, says its chief: "The year 2020 was dramatically impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak, which triggered socially restrictive measures to prevent the spread, such as banning large-scale events, implementing business continuity planning, or imposing travel restrictions. Despite the tough times, our team promptly adapted to the changing situations and incorporated exciting webinars and hybrid events and found solutions to help our partners and members...

"During the circuit breaker, we were alarmed by the impact of these restrictions on specific industries among our members. We stayed committed to help different business sectors including F&B, retail, hospitality and entrepreneurs by offering special discounts for our monthly newsletters. To support our members, our team regularly shared updates on the Covid-19 pandemic and the latest regulations implemented by the Ministry of Health through campaigns and publishing on SwissCham website. We also regularly came up with information on matters like travel industry, HR topics, digitalisation and new business models."

SwissCham also collaborated with companies such as Deloitte, Singapore bodies like SGInnovate and the Economic Development Board, Swiss chambers and business associations in Apac and alliances with chambers in Singapore including EuroCham and various European chambers. The virtual world enabled it to connect more easily with the Apac region.

EXPERT GROUPS

Says Mr von Wattenwyl: "We have also focused on our subcommittees - since we have expert groups who meet on a regular basis to discuss new developments, trends and challenges for a specific sector. Today, we have three subcommittees on Finance, Science & Technology, and Young Professional, and plan to develop more in 2021.

SwissCham Singapore says that it organised 33 events and webinars over the past year which attracted more than 1,800 participants. It also added sustainable topics to its agenda such as the water scarcity event that received positive feedback from participants.

In addition, with the help of one of its partners, the chamber arranged a Zoom webinar on "How to support businesses in managing manpower and financial decisions during the pandemic in the presence of prevailing new measurements by the Singapore government".