{"id":190,"date":"2023-04-11T18:10:30","date_gmt":"2023-04-11T10:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ambsingapore.esteri.it\/italia-e-singapore\/diplomazia-economica\/"},"modified":"2025-06-13T15:10:32","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T07:10:32","slug":"diplomazia-economica","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ambsingapore.esteri.it\/en\/italia-e-singapore\/diplomazia-economica\/","title":{"rendered":"Economic Diplomacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The city-state of Singapore boasts the most advanced economy in ASEAN<\/strong> and serves as a strategic hub of global significance for trade, finance, and logistics<\/strong>. Its strengths lie in its strategic geographic position, highly skilled human capital, stable political environment, robust financial infrastructure, and an effective legal, regulatory, and fiscal framework. Singapore consistently ranks at the top of major international indices for innovation and competitiveness<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Its geographically strategic location<\/strong> also plays a key role: it is the gateway to the Strait of Malacca, through which roughly 40% of global maritime trade passes<\/strong>. Around 400 shipping routes connect Singapore to over 600 ports in 120 countries, making it the world\u2019s leading hub for container transshipment<\/strong>, with nearly 40 million TEUs handled, and the busiest port globally in terms of shipping tonnage, with an average of 140,000 vessel calls per year. Notably, 80% of container handling operations (loading, unloading, and transport) are carried out without human intervention. The maritime economy<\/strong> accounts for 7% of Singapore\u2019s GDP<\/strong>, and due to the region\u2019s economic growth, the country has launched the construction of the new Tuas Port<\/strong>, which will gradually replace the current port by 2040 and handle up to 65 million containers per year\u2014a 85% increase.<\/p>\n

Singapore is the main gateway to Southeast Asia<\/strong>\u2014a dynamic market of over 600 million consumers and the fifth-largest economy in the world after the EU, the U.S., China, and Japan\u2014and continues to attract strong foreign investment<\/strong>. In 2024, the city-state recorded a rise in net FDI inflows<\/strong>, reaching USD 178.7 billion. With a GDP of USD 530 billion, over USD 1 trillion in foreign trade, and a trade surplus of USD 158 billion<\/strong>, Singapore\u2019s economic growth (3.8% in 2024<\/strong>) is largely driven by external demand.<\/p>\n

Singapore is Italy\u2019s top export destination in Southeast Asia<\/strong>. In 2024, bilateral trade<\/strong> nearly reached \u20ac4.5 billion, marking a 26.8% increase over 2023. Italian exports alone exceeded \u20ac3.2 billion (+14.3%), while imports also saw a significant rise, reaching \u20ac1.2 billion (+79%). The trade balance remains consistently positive for Italy, with a surplus of \u20ac2 billion in 2024. Major Italian exports include electronic and electromedical devices, industrial machinery, chemicals, electrical equipment, apparel and leather goods, refined petroleum products, food, and beverages. Imports from Singapore mainly consist of electronic products, pharmaceuticals, metallurgical goods, chemicals, and industrial machinery.<\/p>\n

Italian companies<\/strong>\u2014especially those operating in high-tech sectors\u2014can find in Singapore ideal partners for product development or re-export across the region, as well as strong support from government agencies promoting investment in these areas. Through its \u201cGreen Plan 2030<\/strong>,\u201d Singapore aims to become a hub for sustainable investments, offering Italian firms significant opportunities in sectors ranging from agri-food to agritech and automotive.<\/p>\n

Since February 2024, the Italian Embassy in Singapore has regularly hosted economic promotion events in collaboration with Bloomberg, under the banner \u201cMade in Italy, Shaping the World \u2013 A series of conversations with Italian business leaders from the vibrant hub of Singapore<\/strong>.\u201d<\/em> The initiative aims to promote Italian companies, particularly SMEs, in Singapore and across the rapidly growing Southeast Asian markets. Each event features some of Italy\u2019s most dynamic entrepreneurs operating in or interested in ASEAN, presenting their companies to a qualified audience of investors, business leaders, analysts, and financial sector experts. The first three editions featured Manfredi Catella, CEO of COIMA; Carlo Luzzatto, CEO of RINA; and Andrea Bonomi, CEO of Investindustrial<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The presence of numerous government-backed accelerators and incubators<\/strong> makes Singapore one of the most attractive destinations for high-tech start-ups<\/strong>. In 2024, the fifth edition of the Global Start-up Program<\/strong> was held in Singapore, with a particular focus on the dynamic and opportunity-rich fintech sector<\/strong>. Six selected Italian start-ups underwent an intensive program that included masterclasses, tailored mentorship by experts from the Tenity Singapore accelerator, one-on-one investor pitching sessions, and networking opportunities with key players in the local innovation ecosystem.<\/p>\n

The program culminated in a Demo Day <\/strong>held at the \u201cVillaggio Italia,\u201d<\/strong> specially set up for the visit of the Italian Navy training ship Amerigo Vespucci<\/em><\/strong> to Singapore. The event, organized in collaboration with the Italian Trade Agency (ICE) and Tenity, was opened by the Deputy Minister for Enterprises and Made in Italy, Hon. Valentino Valentini.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Among the most advanced sectors of Italian interest is financial services technology, or fintech<\/strong>. In March 2023, the Italian Association for Fintech and Insurtech (AssoFintech<\/strong>) and the Singapore Fintech Association<\/strong> signed a memorandum of understanding<\/strong> at the Italian Embassy to promote the development of fintech and insurtech companies from both countries, supporting the internationalization of their R&D activities and access to funding. In November 2024, Italy took part in the Singapore Fintech Festival<\/strong>\u2014the most important annual event in the sector (with over 66,000 visitors in the latest edition)\u2014with a collective of ten Italian companies featured in the Italian Pavilion organized by ICE.<\/p>\n

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Sponsorships<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The city-state of Singapore boasts the most advanced economy in ASEAN and serves as a strategic hub of global significance for trade, finance, and logistics. Its strengths lie in its strategic geographic position, highly skilled human capital, stable political environment, robust financial infrastructure, and an effective legal, regulatory, and fiscal framework. Singapore consistently ranks at […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":165,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-190","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ambsingapore.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ambsingapore.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ambsingapore.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ambsingapore.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ambsingapore.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ambsingapore.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6534,"href":"https:\/\/ambsingapore.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/190\/revisions\/6534"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ambsingapore.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ambsingapore.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}