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Singapore is the most important trading partner for Germany in South-East Asia. The main
industries of importance for both countries are the manufacturing, electrical engineering,
information technology, semiconductor, pharmaceutical and chemical sectors. Both
Singapore and Germany place much emphasis on innovating and utilising technology in
practical and intelligent ways.
In this regard, the ‘Smart Nation’ initiative by the Singapore government which seeks to
utilise and harness technology in meeting the challenges and needs of the country offers
opportunities for German companies, whose knowledge, technology and expertise is
highly-esteemed and much sought after in Singapore.
Mr Wolfgang
Huppenbauer
President of the Singaporean-
German Chamber of Industry
and Commerce (SGC)
The Singaporean-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (SGC) is very honoured
to be a significant platform for bringing global German companies and increasingly,
Mittelstands together to exchange and share valuable knowledge and experiences.
In addition, the SGC also supports Singaporean companies wishing to do business in
Germany and German companies in expanding their business in Singapore through
various business-related services and advice. This is made possible through the chamber’s
excellent collaborations with Singaporean and German trade and business associations,
government bodies and agencies.
SGC’s events and initiatives enable our member companies and their representatives of
large, medium and small companies to network and share the latest technological trends
and business outlook. The number of successful partnerships achieved through our
initiatives have paved the way for further collaboration at both the industry and government
levels, thereby further strengthening the bilateral relations between Singapore and
Germany.
Significantly, four of our delegations from Germany (namely the Photonics and Optical
Industries, Energy Efficiency in Buildings, IT Security and Semiconductors) brought
together companies who have initiated discussions on smart technologies. In addition,
we also organised a Mini-Conference on Smart Nation in December 2015 which offered
another platform to highlight German companies’ role in this new trend. This was followed
by a conference on Industrie 4.0 in June this year.
SGC Business Luncheon events this year also tapped into this topic of Smart Technologies.
First with EDB’s chairman Dr Beh Swan Gin, who spoke on the future of digitisation, its
implications for Singapore and how German companies could value-add. This was followed
by the luncheon in July, with the First Mayor of Hamburg, Mr Olaf Scholz, who focussed
on establishing smart cities in both Hamburg and Singapore through technological
intelligence to improve the lives of people.
It is quite evident that modern communication technology has the potential to change our
lives for the better, be it in our homes, workplace or communities. New infrastructure is
being planned and built by utilising the advancement in infocomm technology efficiently
and sustainably to create a smart nation. The SGC is indeed proud to be part of this latest
development and we hope to contribute further towards this initiative.
In conclusion, I would like to thank our members for their active participation in the
various events and activities, and to the SGC Corporate Gold Members for their
support. I would also like to thank all our partners in Singapore and Germany for their
cooperation, especially the Deutsche Industrie- und Handelskammertag (DIHK) and the
Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWi) for their continuous support. Last
but certainly not the least, my sincere thanks to the staff of SGC for their energy and hard
work and bringing much enthusiasm to the work of the Chamber.
Mr Wolfgang Huppenbauer
President of the Singaporean-German Chamber of
Industry and Commerce (SGC)
SGC Business Magazine 2016/2017
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