ISEAS: Trends in Southeast Asia
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Indo-Pacific Insight
Geopolitics, emerging risks, supply chains…
Indo-Pacific Insight: Daily LinkedIn newsletter
December 2024
- Singapore: University-developed AQSolotl startup launches to commercialize quantum technologies that facilitate communications between traditional and quantum systems / full item
- Singapore and Hong Kong ranked as the most blockchain-friendly regions based on patents, jobs, and crypto exchanges in an ApeX Protocol study / full item
- Singaore: Nanyang Technological University unveils 3D concrete printing method that captures and stores carbon dioxide, cutting the carbon footprint of cement / full item
‘Singapore forged ahead with efforts to formulate a digital-assets hub in 2024, while rival financial center Hong Kong has struggled to gain traction.’ / full item
- Singapore asset manager, Keppel, and Vietnam’s Sovico conglomerate are discussing plans for new SEA undersea cables, tho agreement has not yet been reached / full item
- Singapore: Eureka Robotics raises $10.5M Series A with Controller and Camera products, enabling integration of AI-driven applications in factories and warehouses / full item
- Singapore-based CryptoCom exchange partners Deutsche Bank, gaining corporate banking services in Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong, and in future growth / full item
“…disruption from cybersecurity incidents extends to the private sector where… in Singapore, 3 out of 5 companies polled had paid ransom during cyberattacks in 2023.” / full item
- Singapore-based Grab superapp platform selects Amazon Web Services as its cloud services provider, seeing overall benefits in performance, scalability, and new technologies / full item
- Malaysia’s Solarvest partners Singapore’s Vista Contracting & Investment for rooftop and utility-scale solar projects in Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan, and Cambodia / full item
- Thailand Post partners Singapore’s bolttech insurance-tech to enable customers to purchase coverage via QR codes on post office receipts or in person at any PO branch / full item
- ICYMI: United Kingdom becomes the first European nation to join the Indo-Pacific’s Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership trade bloc / full item
Collision Course: The future of China’s carmarkers in Russia
November 2024
- Singapore: An overview of the recently-launched SGQR+ payment scheme, potentially a game-changer for digital banks, e-wallets, and financial institutions / full item
…Nets is rolling out the commercialisation of SGQR+ in Singapore, while Singapore-HQ’d fintech Liquid Group looks to take SGQR+ global with the launch of roamQR… / full item
- 2025 AWE Asia Start-up Pitch applications are now open, seeking XR and metaverse startups for August 2025 event in Singapore / full item
- Singapore’s Portcast has raised $6.5M Series A with data-driven transportation and logistics management, with plans to integrate GenAI for real-time analytics and prediction / full item
- And don’t forget that GITEX Asia technology conference is set for April 23-25, 2025, in Singapore – a new and unique event in Asia’s technology scene. Get details here: GITEX Asia 2025
- Millennium Hotels & Resorts boosts Aiello partnership for in-room, AI-powered voice assistant tech across six MHR properties in Singapore and Thailand / full item
- Visa and China’s Tencent partner to trial pay-by-palm tech in Singapore, with Visa cardholders from banks including DBS, OCBC, and UOB eligible for the pilot programme / full item
Southeast Asia’s data center growth: “The headline story will be the increasing importance of the SJB [Singapore-Johor-Batam] corridor…” / full item
- Singapore’s Nium payments platform and JP Morgan’s Kinexys boost collaboration on data supply to validate bank accounts in int’l payments to Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong / full item
- Singapore: An interview intro to Transcelestial, delivering laser-based wireless connectivity / full item
- Report: ‘Post-Quantum Cryptography – Securing digital communications between Banque de France and the Monetary Authority of Singapore’ / full item
- Singapore: UOB FinLab, Bank’s innovation accelerator, awarded over $100,000 to GreenTech Accelerator 2024 firms for 15 sustainability solution pilots across ASEAN / full item
- Mark your calendar: The inaugural GITEX Asia technology conference, Asia’s all-new powerhouse tech and startups event, is set for Singapore in April of 2025 / full item
- Download: ‘Singapore Venture Funding Landscape 2024’ from Enterprise Singapore and PitchBook / full item
- Singapore’s OCBC bank implements blockchain tech for intraday institutional lending, making use of JP Morgan Onyx Digital Assets platform / full item
- Singapore: National Graduate Research Innovation Programme preps for January 2025 launch, a Sg$50M, 5-year initiative to add to support for founders and researchers / full item
- Singapore: Gemini cryptocurrency exchange gains in-principle approval from Monetary Authority for digital payment token services, and cross-border money transfers / full item
- AI Safety Institutes, or AISIs, are one of the most important new structures to emerge in international AI policy… / full item
- Singapore-HQ’d Wavemaker Partners VC raised $30M in first close of new Wavemaker Growth Opportunities Fund, targeting SEA enterprise, deep tech and sustainability investments / full item
- HK-Singapore biotech firm, Avant, launches skincare range based on lab-grown marine peptides, addressing climate, animal welfare and traceability challenges / full item
- Over the last decade Singapore has received the most investment from Australia overall, representing 52% of Australia’s outgoing tech investment. / full item
Download: ‘FinTech in ASEAN 2024, A Decade of Innovation’ – UOB, PwC, SFA “Singapore and Thailand accounted for 3/4 of total FinTech funding in the region for 9M 2024.” / full item
- 5 Project Nexus central banks to establish Nexus Scheme Org’n managing entity for live implementations of the BIS cross-border initiative to interlink realtime payment rails / full item
ADB: The Role and Future of Digital Economy Agreements in Asia & Pacific
October 2024
- Monetary Authority of Singapore has launched the Global Finance & Technology Network, aiming to deepen the city-state’s position as a global fintech hub / full item
- Download: ‘FinTech’s state of play 2.0 – Taking stock of Singapore’s FinTech landscape, 2024‘ from PwC and Singapore FinTech Association / full item
- Project Mandala proof-of-concept: Automating compliance procedures on cross-border financial transactions, with central banks of Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and Korea participating / full item
- Singapore is to invest an additional Sg$440M in the Startup SG Equity scheme in bid to attract more VC firms to invest in local Singaporean deep-tech startups / full item
- Singapore: Gov’t preps Shared Responsibility Framework for December roll-out, looking to strengthen accountability of financial institutions and telcos for phishing scam losses / full item
- Singapore: DBS Bank rolls out DBS Token Services to further grow blockchain options for institutional clients, integrating smart contract capabilities with existing services / full item
- Singapore: OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, is to open its second Asia office in Singapore, to focus on region-relevant languages, culture and national programmes / full item
- Singapore recently unveiled the Smart Nation 2.0 agenda, an update on the city-state’s digital goals for the economy, society, government, and security / full item
- L’Oréal Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program selects 4 Singapore startups and 4 from India for finals, working in customer-serving technologies and insights / full item
- Singapore: Surfin secures $12.5M Series A with multi-country fintech presence, offering P2P lending, remittances, payment gateway services and more / full item
- Singapore: Meta rolls out new artificial intelligence accelerator, and incubator, for APAC startups that integrate Meta’s Llama AI model into their products / full item
- Singapore: 2024 GovWare Conference & Exhibition took place October 15-17, as part of Singapore Int’l Cyber Week, focusing on cybersecurity / full item
- ICYMI: Personal Data Protection Commission required all organizations in Singapore to have registered Data Protection Officer details by the end of September / full item
- GITEX Asia is set for Singapore in April 2025, gathering over 1000 firms & startups, more than 250 investors & VCs, and thousands of potential buyers / full item
- Singapore’s Princeton Digital Group data centre firm acquires powered land for 500MW capacity expansion, adding new facilities in India, Malaysia and Indonesia / full item
- Malaysia Digital Economy Corp inks MOUs with Singapore’s Ascent venture fund and Indonesia’s Central Capital Ventura, looking to boost cross-border collaboration and innovation / full item
- Malaysia: Johor State is projected to attract $4.9BN in new data center investments in 2024, offering cost benefits over neighbouring Singapore / full item
- Taiwan: Singapore’s Keppel Data Centre Fund II inks JV with BlackRock-backed Digital Decarbonization Solutions Platform for 80MW Northern Taiwan data centre / full item
- Vietnam’s FPT tech giant and Nat’l University of Singapore partner on $50M investment in artificial intelligence research and related talent development / full item
Taiwan: ‘…ranks first in the world in AI hardware, but 26th in software, behind neighboring Singapore (third) and South Korea (sixth).’ / full item
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