S'pore has a relatively small population, yet Govt encourages S'pore's businesses to venture overseas. This is admirable, but S'pore businesses would do better if they could easily find foreign partners (e.g. for financing, skills, entrepreneurship) to join them.
These partners might be: (1) Malaysians In view of long ties with neighbouring country and similar culture (2) Bruneians ASEAN neighbour and similar culture, small country (3) Other ASEAN citizens Regional friends (4) Greater China residents Chinese language common background (5) India & Sri Lanka residents Language and ethnic ties. (6) UK, Australia, NZ, USA, Canadian residents English language and some Singaporeans may have ties having studied or lived there. So the idea is to build and enhance or consolidate existing platforms under a single umbrella where businesses/entrepreneurs of all sizes from Singapore can consider their first point, meet and communicate (either in person, through web portals, teleconferencing, Skype conferencing).
There could be some kind of Governments (Trade depts/IE) - Embassies - Businesses/Industry - Finance institutions - Tertiary institutions - Language/Cultural institutions - S'pore Int'l Foundation partnership acting in concert to bring people from across borders together, a kind of matching service putting people together based on common interests and common desire to venture on new (or even existing) overseas projects particularly in emerging markets with perhaps a focus on ASEAN (with focus on Indonesia and Indochina), China, India and the Gulf, but also other countries including Russia/ex-USSR, Latin America (focus on Brazil) and Africa (focus on East Africa).
The portal can be sub-divided into the 4 official languages. But the portal should not be the sole feature, just a communication platform. There could be meetings, forums, exhibitions, etc. This forum/platform has to be sufficiently attractive, and bureaucratic free and inexpensive to win the joint participation of citizens from across the globe. The platform might even have a mini-stockmarket, where unlisted securities, including corporate bonds and debt instruments, could be traded and artwork/cultural pieces could be auctioned.
Dear Feedback Contributor
We refer to your email which was forwarded to International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore).Our organization is a government statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) in Singapore and our mission is to promote overseas growth of Singapore-based enterprises and international trade.
With reference to your suggestions, allow us to share with you some of the business matching and networking platforms that we offer.
BuySingapore is a national initiative by IE Singapore to help local enterprises market their products and services internationally and is also an e-platform for foreign companies to search for local business contacts or procure Singapore products and services. Spanning a wide range of industry sectors, it allows foreign enterprises to access over 100,000 Singapore companies and trade leads from one of the most reliable and comprehensive databases. It also provides an auto-business matching mechanism that alerts your company of appropriate matches, allowing businesses to make their first connection with each other. More information on this portal is available at http://www.buysingapore.com/
These 3 Networks provide networking platforms for Singapore based companies to foster connections and business linkages with other companies that have similar interests in the above 3 markets. These network memberships are free as long as you are our ieConnect membership and also a registered Singapore company or a foreign company that is based in Singapore. More information on these 3 networks and their registration are available by clicking here.
IE Singapore frequently organize/support such events. They would also enable you to explore business opportunities and get in touch with industry partners. Such events are updated promptly on our online activities calendar at http://www.iesingapore.gov.sg/wps/portal/Main/Events.
We also recommend that you sign up as our ieConnect member as this is an online service that allows you to indicate your areas of business interest and receive customised information that best suits your needs. As an ieConnect member, you will also enjoy the following benefits:
Registration for ieConnect membership is FREE and you can sign up by clicking here.
We hope that the above information is useful to you.
Should you require further assistance, please feel free to contact our Customer Service Centre at our local Toll Free Tel: 1800-IESPORE (1800-4377673) or 65 6337 6628, from overseas, (and press one followed by zero) between 9.00am to 6.00pm from Mondays to Fridays, excluding public holidays.
Best Regards International Enterprise Singapore
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