Press Release: British Chamber accelerates efforts to support foreign investment and job creation in Singapore with new services for UK exporters

October 26, 2020

With the transition period for the UK's exit from the EU coming to a conclusion at the end of December, the British Chamber of Commerce in Singapore is accelerating efforts to support UK businesses looking to export to the region.

As the results of ongoing membership polls illustrate, Singapore remains a highly attractive prospect for business expansion from the UK and provides a natural starting point for growth in the ASEAN region. To recap, 79% of businesses in the British Chamber network polled recently confirmed that they are not considering relocating any part of their business, and long-term confidence in the country remains high⁽¹⁾.

The Chamber's efforts to champion foreign investment into Singapore echo the sentiments of Minister Chan Chun Sing earlier this week, who reiterated the Government strategy to "anchor leading Multinational Companies (MNCs) in Singapore so that they not only catalyse our local industry, but also allow us to remain plugged into the global network, which will entrench our position in our global value chain"⁽²⁾, and support ongoing dialogues with the Ministry of Manpower on the issue of job creation and upskilling. Minister Josephine Teo is scheduled to virtually meet with Chamber members in a closed-door discussion next month.

As part of the export readiness campaign, the Chamber has released a variety of tools and resources for UK businesses including:

- A Future of Trade Information Hub, providing a central resource for the latest trade updates, Chamber content, transition and export tools from the UK Government; [https://futureoftrade.britcham.org.sg]

- A Trade Services online portal with business matching services, market research offerings, free overviews of key sectors, information on establishing a business in Singapore, and support from a dedicated team of Trade Advisors; [https://www.britcham.org.sg/trade-services-support]

- A digital Content Library including live/recorded webinars and podcast interviews with key stakeholders representing the British business ecosystem in Southeast Asia

Materials will be prepared for the British Chamber of Commerce network of local and regional UK offices to share with their member businesses, along with other stakeholders such as the Singapore Economic Development Board and Enterprise Singapore.

In parallel with these activities, member companies in Singapore and the Chamber's Business Committees are providing additional touchpoints to assist inbound UK businesses. For instance, Lloyds Bank continues to serve as the Official Partner for the Chamber's Future of Trade agenda, while British Airways offers a unique discount for UK businesses supported by the Chamber's Trade Services team in their future market visits and several member companies are referred to interested businesses for their services.

British Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, David Kelly, commented:

"The Chamber remains committed to supporting UK businesses with their overseas growth plans via our dedicated Trade Services team, and positioning Singapore as a location of choice for companies seeking to access the wider ASEAN market. With our trade portal and trade information hub successfully launched via our website, we have created easy-to-access resources for organisations and will be working with our stakeholders in the UK and around the ASEAN region to provide advice and support.

This year, the Chamber has also been running a series of virtual trade missions across a variety of sectors, and it has been pleasing to see these programmes deliver value to UK companies, but also to see the strong interest in Singapore as an international business hub."

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