TOKYO – Many young Japanese entrepreneurs are using Singapore as a springboard to launch start-ups, Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong cited a financial institution as having told him on Friday.
This is because of Singapore’s “cosmopolitan business environment”, which allows them to very quickly scale up their business ventures into overseas markets.
Speaking to the Singapore media at the end of his official visit to Tokyo, Mr Wong, who is also Finance Minister, said: “Working on such collaboration among our young people in start-ups will allow for closer ties between our two countries, and will really help to add a new dimension in our economic cooperation as well.”
He noted that while there is strong mutual interest in travel among the people on both sides – more than 67,000 Singaporeans visited Japan in December 2022 alone, for instance – there is far more that can be done to build up the relationship.
“We start from a good base, but we want the exchanges to go beyond just leisure travel, hopefully there will be more people coming on both sides to study, to work, and to engage in more substantive activities.”
He said the Government will continue to see how it can promote such efforts, such as by encouraging more Singaporeans to spend time studying in Japanese universities, whether on exchange or full-time programmes, and vice versa.
There are frequent exchanges at the political level. This marks Mr Wong’s second trip to Japan in May, following his first to Niigata when Singapore was invited as a guest country at the Group of Seven finance ministers’ meeting.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also had a layover in Singapore on May 5, when he met Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong over a working lunch.
In a 20-minute meeting on Friday, Mr Wong and Mr Kishida discussed ways to grow bilateral ties on issues of mutual interest, such as digitalisation and the green economy.
They also talked about geopolitical developments, while reaffirming the need to maintain an open, inclusive and rules-based regional architecture.
Japan and Asean are celebrating 50 years of friendship and cooperation in 2023, with a commemorative summit to be held in Tokyo from Dec 16 to 18.
A statement from Japan’s Foreign Ministry cited Mr Kishida as telling Mr Wong that he will set out a “new vision for Asean cooperation”.
Singapore’s statement, meanwhile, said that Asean is set to upgrade its ties with Japan to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) from the current Strategic Partnership.
Asean currently has CSP arrangements with China, Australia, the United States and India. This is the highest-tier partnership Asean has with external partners, and paves the way for enhanced cooperation in a wide range of areas.
Speaking to reporters, Mr Wong described this upgrade as a “significant milestone... (that) shows the commitment and the intention of both sides to really deepen our relationship further”.
“Of course, it cannot just be a change in names. We have to add substance to this,” he said, citing nascent areas of cooperation such as digital and sustainability.
He added: “We hope that Singapore in many ways can be a catalyst and a pathfinder for stronger ties between Japan and Asean.”
