Singapore’s Minister in charge of Trade Relations, Grace Fu, has called for stronger ties between Africa and Southeast Asia through people-to-people connections.
Minister Fu made this call during her remarks at the 8th Africa-Singapore Business Forum held in Singapore, where she said platforms like the Singapore Cooperation Programme have helped build knowledge and people exchanges between the regions.
She revealed that since the business forums began, Enterprise Singapore has welcomed over 14,000 African officials from 54 African countries. Last year alone, officials from 11 African countries participated in the Capacity Building Programme in Trade Negotiations, where negotiators from Africa and Singapore shared valuable insights from their trade negotiation experiences.
According to Minister Fu, these exchanges have proven valuable in building cultural understanding and friendships between officials who attended the programs.
She noted that Enterprise Singapore currently facilitates direct business connections through regular business missions, workshops, and conferences. The company works with business chambers and associations in Singapore to organize regular business missions to Africa.
Minister Fu said that in July last year, Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan led Singapore’s first carbon credits business mission to Ghana to explore opportunities for businesses in both countries to work together on carbon credits projects.
She announced that this September, the Singapore Business Federation will organize an Overseas Market Workshop to Egypt, focusing on trade, transport, logistics, and urban infrastructure development.
Using an African proverb – “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together” – Minister Fu called on attendees of this year’s 8th ASBF to do two things.
First, she urged them to look beyond the familiar and not see Africa and Southeast Asia as separate markets, but as complementary engines of growth.
Second, she encouraged them to be open to taking the first step, whether as an African company looking east or a Singapore company looking to Africa, and make the ASBF their launching pad.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD
