Message by Her Excellency Kara Owen CMG CVO
British High Commissioner to Singapore
Thank you for being a part of this UK-Singapore Innovation Partnership series, an initiative delivered through the UK’s Asia Pacific Digital Trade Network. This series is in partnership with UK’s Department for International Trade, Science & Innovation Network, and Tech Nation.
I am very excited to showcase 11 UK companies at this trade mission, featuring technologies ranging from smart cities, cyber security and satellites to waste management.
2021 has been an exciting year for Singapore and the UK’s relationship in the Science, Digital Innovation, Technology and Cyber spaces.
We ended the year with four Memoranda of Understanding between UK and Singapore in Digital Trade Facilitation, Digital identities, Cyber Security, and Innovation. These MOUs will further support opportunities to grow digital delivery of cross-border services between the UK and Singapore. In 2019, 70% of UK cross-border services exports to Singapore were digitally delivered, and last December, our two countries reached agreement in principle of a digital trade deal, also known as the UK Singapore Digital Economy Agreement (DEA). The DEA will take our trading relationship with Singapore to the next level by overhauling outdated trade rules that affect both goods and services exporters, making it easier for UK business to target new opportunities in both Singapore and lucrative Asian markets.
Against the backdrop of the DEA, the Singapore-UK Bilateral Co-Innovation Programme was also announced. Under an MOU between Enterprise Singapore and Innovate UK, the Programme will develop and fund projects between UK and Singapore enterprises in advanced manufacturing and materials, mobility and transport and cybersecurity.
Trading digitally will also help us to meet our goals for tackling climate change. The UK hosted the COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November 2021, in partnership with Italy, and the UK government unveiled its 10-point green recovery plan. The £12 billion stimulus package will benefit the green economy across the country, including investments in carbon capture, hydrogen, nuclear vehicles, and renewable energy.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson estimates that the green recovery plan will create 250,000 new jobs and expects the plan to mobilize significant private sector investments in support of the United Kingdom’s 2050 net-zero goal.
Singapore’s role is significant, with Sembcorp UK being present at Wilton International, a multi-occupancy industrial site, to develop the UK’s first Net Zero power plant to bolster their existing power generation capabilities.
We look forward to increasing sustainable trade and investment flows between the UK and Singapore and continuing our relationships with all Singapore commercial partners and government stakeholders. The 11 companies showcased in this Partnership could be a significant part of this story.
Message from Samantha Evans
Head of International, Tech Nation
The UK is already a global leader for net zero tech, and is continuing to see rapid growth. Recent Tech Nation research found that the total value of net zero tech companies in the UK nearly doubled over the last year, from $24.4bn to $47.6bn. Net zero tech scaleups make up 12% of the global net zero ecosystem, with some of the largest global net zero companies headquartered in the UK, such as Arrival, OLIO and OVO Energy. This growth reflects a surge in demand across the world for climate action following the UK hosting COP26 last November.
However, there is some way to go if these critical technologies are to save our planet. Net Zero tech firms tend to face unique challenges in scaling due to the R&D intensive nature of development of their products and services, an adverse investment infrastructure favouring rapid returns rather than longer term horizons, and difficulty in hiring top net zero talent. Tech Nation also knows that international expansion is often one of the biggest challenges UK tech companies face. This is why Tech Nation is delighted to be working with the UK government in Asia Pacific as part of the Digital Trade Network and this virtual mission, to support more UK scaleups - including net zero companies like Topolytics, Wondrwall, Giki and Circulor - derisk and accelerate their expansion into the region. We hope that you engage with the UK delegates to initiate discussions and form partnerships that we would like to hear about later on.
If we are to achieve net zero, it is vital that nations across the world work together, including Singapore and the UK, and invest and support the growth of climate tech - whether that be through funding, international support or policy change. Climate tech must become a global priority.
Tech Nation is the leading growth platform for UK tech scaleups. Tech Nation fuels the growth of game-changing founders, leaders, and scaling companies so they can positively transform societies and economies, providing them with the coaching, content, and community they need for their journey in designing the future. Tech Nation has years of experience facilitating and helping UK tech companies scale, both at home and abroad. Over 30 cohorts and 900 companies have successfully graduated from Tech Nation’s growth programmes. Alumni include Skyscanner, Darktrace, and Monzo, as well as 3 of the UK’s 7 new ‘decacorns’; Revolut, Wise, and Farfetch.
