22/10/2018 Austria and Singapore signs pact
Singapore and Austria signs pact on future digital and technology exchange
Both Singapore and Austria joined a pact to cooperate in digital area to exchange information and ideas for technology. Both country signed the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) on 2018 October 17th during Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s visit to Vienna.
The agreement would focus on exchanging information and best practices in 4 areas:
- Using digital strategies for helping small and medium enterprises and potential start-ups.
- Smart Nation applications to digitize government, including digital national identities.
- E-commerce and digital trading; and
- Prominent technologies, including novel applications of block-chain, IoT (Internet of Things) and AI.
Such move will open the door for more Austrian firms to Singapore. There are currently 220 Austrian firms in Singapore with investments of over 2 billion SGD (Singapore Dollars). The Chancellor of Austria Sebestian Kurz also agreed that cyber security is one area which Asia and Europe can work closely for. Singapore and Austria are both keen in developing and research between universities for cyber security. Thus, a tie-up would be ideal in the future.