The tech startup ecosystem does not stand in a silo. This is why collaboration with different parties is crucial in growing and developing the ecosystem, including with government institutions of other countries.
In Singapore and Southeast Asia (SEA) in general, the UK has done several initiatives to connect with the local tech startup ecosystem. The UK-Southeast Asia Tech Week, which is set to happen on March 13-20, are held in three SEA countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. The event will bring down 25 British tech companies in the climate tech and IoT segments; during the week, they will get to meet local investors, entrepreneurs, and policy-makers to figure out areas of potential collaboration.
Apart from the event, the UK became a Dialogue Partner to ASEAN, in addition to a new digital innovation partnership with the organisation that aims to identify potential collaboration, particularly on relevant issues in SEA.
Recently, Singapore has also seen a wave of British tech companies entering the market. One example of such companies is Aurrigo International which has partnered with Changi Airport Group to develop and test its autonomous aviation baggage handling products.
To understand more about the available opportunities for SEA startups in the UK, e27 speaks to Natalie Black, HM Trade Commissioner for the UK.
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In this conversation, we discover more details about how the country views this region and why collaboration is even more essential today. The following is an edited excerpt of the conversation:
How does the UK view the SEA tech startup ecosystem?
I will start with SEA as a whole, then we can look at the tech sector in particular. When you look at the SEA economy as a whole, despite all the challenges that the whole world has been through during the pandemic, it is doing remarkably well. If the predictions are right, it will be the fourth-largest economy by 2027. And if you’re seeing its growth rates now, it looks like they’re going to overtake China, the US, and Europe. So, from our point of view, SEA is the part of the world to watch.
Why is that? I think there are great ideas here. There’s a lot of innovation. And it’s a very young, dynamic population. When you look at places like the Philippines, the average age is 24. As a consequence, people have high expectations about what they want their society to look like and they know that digital can make a real difference.
So, when we look at the tech sector in SEA, the UK sees lots of opportunities to collaborate, lots of opportunities to learn, and lots of opportunities for both all of us to mutually benefit.
What are the advantages that startups in SEA can get when they are collaborating with startups in the UK?
If you look at issues like climate change, and how we all live up to the commitments that we are making on net zero … The reality is, no one can do this alone. What we have to do is build relationships and partnerships that will tackle global problems using technology.
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Particularly when we look at climate change in SEA, the region is at the forefront of some of the biggest challenges in terms of islands disappearing and rising sea levels … That provides a lot of demand for new technologies and new ways of doing things. From the UK tech sector’s point of view, they’re looking for opportunities to pilot, try new ways of working and find great people to work with.
Across SEA, there is a lot of tech talent. If you have seen the Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company report, they talked about how the digital decade has now come to SEA. And I think that is really true.
So, the UK tech sector looks at SEA and sees that the digital decade is here. And they want to be part of that. Because they know that it’s an opportunity to grow their businesses, to help businesses grow here, and ultimately solve some of the biggest problems that we face as a community.
When you’re collaborating with startups, what is the philosophy behind the collaboration?
There is a lot that we can learn from startups in SEA. For the very first time, the UK launched a new initiative called the Digital Trade Network. This is the first time we did this anywhere in the world, and we chose SEA and Asia Pacific because we could see the opportunity for mutual learning.
So we have brought British experts in tech, who are now based across the region. So in SEA, we have someone in Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok, and also in Australia, Japan, or elsewhere. They are looking to see how can we learn from the tech ecosystem in SEA. How can we find ways to pilot new ways of doing things? And how can we find the next generation of tech unicorns in SEA and work with them as early as possible?
Through the Digital Trade Network, we’ve worked now with a couple of 100 British tech companies who are interested in Asia Pacific particularly. We’ve whittled that down now to just over 60 companies that are looking at scaling opportunities here. We already have a number of success stories of British companies setting up offices here, hiring local talent, growing the business and contributing to the economy.
What do you think we should do to further promote collaborations between these different parties?
I think we should shine a light on those companies and show what is possible because it will encourage others to come and hire locally, and create new jobs and opportunities.
I also want to see companies from SEA coming into the UK as they think about their global expansion as well. In June, we have London Tech Week, which is the biggest tech conference in Europe. That’s a great opportunity for companies in Southeast Asia, to explore opportunities to expand in the UK, also look at fundraising opportunities, and learn from others.
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Let us just say there is a startup from SEA that would like to enter the UK market. Will there be any help to make it easier for them?
We have a programme called the Global Entrepreneurs Program. So, you have to apply for it. It’s a competitive process, but if you’re successful in getting onto this programme, you are partnered with an entrepreneur who has been through this process. They’ve done it themselves in terms of setting up businesses, and they will help you navigate the process, make it feel quite straightforward and really transparent, and help connect you with the right people. And also help you understand the UK market. We’ve had quite a few companies come through from Singapore.
So, what is next for the UK in SEA?
I’m always asking my team that question. We need to go bigger; we need to go bigger.
As we come out of the pandemic, and the global economy starts to speed up again, we know that the problems facing the world are not getting smaller. In some ways, they’re getting bigger, and they’re getting more complex. So, for us, we’ve had quite a big focus on supporting cybersecurity companies, supporting companies in Artificial Intelligence … because we have a digital economy agreement with Singapore.
But as we think about the future, the big focus will be on climate tech. We can see the demand in SEA and around the world. In the UK, we have just over 350 climate tech companies, and we know that they want to be in SEA. So, the focus of the next year will be bringing the best of UK climate tech to the region.
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Image Credit: British High Commission in Singapore
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