SINGAPORE - Five agreements to boost business ties were signed between Singaporean and African companies at the seventh edition of the Africa Singapore Business Forum (ASBF) on Tuesday.
The new deals add to a lengthening list of recently concluded agreements between Singapore brand owners and their African counterparts who are seeking opportunities in manufacturing, digitalisation and technology, sustainable development, transport, and logistics.
First launched in 2010 on a biennial basis, the ASBF serves as a key platform for Singapore and African business leaders and government officials to discuss trade and investment opportunities. The forum has brought together more than 5,000 thought leaders from 40 countries.
The event comes on the heels of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s official visits in the past year to Rwanda, South Africa and Kenya – aimed at strengthening bilateral ties, including business linkages.
According to Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), the Republic’s bilateral trade in goods with the continent has grown by about 15 per cent every year between 2019 and 2022, reaching $19.4 billion in 2022. Singapore companies’ investments in the African continent had cumulatively reached $32.1 billion as at 2021.
Mr Tan Soon Kim, EnterpriseSG’s deputy chief executive officer for global markets, said: “Singapore companies are recognising the value of diversifying their businesses to markets farther afield and have been responding to our call to explore Africa.”
In his keynote address, Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong said: “Today, there are about 100 Singapore companies present in 40 countries in Africa.”
Africa comprises 54 countries, with a total population of 1.4 billion people.
Companies have invested in various sectors, such as manufacturing, logistics, agri-commodities and urban solutions, as well as exploring potential in digitalisation and sustainability.
“I encourage more Singapore companies to seek out business and investment opportunities in Africa,” said Mr Gan.
Singapore is also in the process of negotiating new pacts to improve connectivity with African nations – both on a bilateral basis and with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
On Aug 20, the Kenya-Singapore Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement entered into force.
Mr Gan said such agreements provide certainty to companies from both Africa and Singapore that operate in each other’s markets, thus boosting trade and investment flows between both sides.
Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Trade and Industry will also offer a capacity-building course in trade negotiations as part of the Singapore Cooperation Programme’s Singapore-Africa Partnership Package.
Mr Gan said the course will start in January 2024 and is designed to meet the needs of African trade negotiators, even as it helps to foster stronger relations between the governments as well as officials.
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2023-08-29 06:54:10Z
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