Singapore and France Sign Partnership on Digital and Green Economy Cooperation
Joint Press Release by Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Communications and Information and Infocomm Media Development Authority
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Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations S Iswaran and French Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness Franck Riester signed the France-Singapore Digital and Green Partnership (DGP) today at a virtual signing ceremony. They also issued a Joint Ministerial Statement (Annex A) outlining the DGP’s strategic value and purpose.
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The DGP provides a structured platform for France and Singapore to cooperate on a wide range of digital and green issues. Under the initiative, Singapore and France will develop a workplan comprising cooperative projects with clear and tangible outcomes in various sectors, such as smart transport, smart cities, cyber, financial innovation, agri-food technologies, MedTech and EduTech. The intent is to support public-private partnerships and private sector-led approaches that harness digital and green technologies to enhance the competitiveness of our economies and create good jobs for our people in a sustainable manner. Both sides will also establish a Joint Working Group comprising France and Singapore officials to oversee the DGP’s implementation.
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Mr Iswaran said, “The France-Singapore Digital and Green Partnership is part of Singapore’s larger strategy to build a network of international partnerships that enable our companies, especially SMEs, to seize growth opportunities in the fast-growing digital and green economies. It is also the latest in a series of initiatives to continuously update and strengthen the robust economic partnership between France and Singapore – two like-minded nations which have always placed innovation at the heart of our national strategies for growth and prosperity. At the strategic level, the Partnership will contribute to and complement existing multilateral, regional and bilateral discussions, including ongoing efforts with the EU to develop the EU-Singapore Digital Partnership.”
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Singapore and France enjoy strong bilateral trade and investment relations, underpinned by the Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership signed in 2012, the Joint Declaration on Innovation signed in 2017, the France-Singapore Year of Innovation in 2018, the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement which entered into force in 2019, and the Joint Ministerial Statement to maintain open and connected supply chains for essential food supplies that was issued in June 2020.
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France is Singapore’s second and fourth largest EU trading partner in goods and services respectively. France is also Singapore’s fifth largest EU investor. Singapore is France’s top trade and investment partner in ASEAN. There is an active community of over 2,500 French businesses and 300 French startups in Singapore, as well as over 200 French researchers within Singapore academic and research centres.