Singapore is looking to capitalise on foreign partnerships to strengthen its tech and ecommerce segment. Earlier, the government has signed the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) with New Zealand and Chile.
DEPA has paved the path for Singapore to create an international framework for businesses that are involved in areas such as ecommerce and cross-border digital trade. The digital economy agreements will strengthen the relationship between economies in fields such as AI and facilitate interoperability between digital systems, boosting companies to conduct trials over new technologies across different economies.
DEPA aims to address digital trade issues while spurring data innovation to ease cross border data flow in order for AI technology to grow. The agreement will assist Singaporean businesses cut operations cost and enhance access to each other’s markets.
DEPA will also allow traders to carry out paperless trade while conducting operations such as cargo clearance and document transit in a shorter time. Furthermore, the digital partnership will push the usage of epayment solutions due to greater interoperability between payment systems. DEPA will also provide robust data protection to businesses, especially data transfer across borders.
Singapore has also signed a digital economy agreement with Australia last year through the Singapore-Australia Digital Economy Agreement (SADEA). The country is also planning to establish a digital partnership with South Korea. Digital economy agreements will assist the Singaporean government to bolster underlying infrastructures to build up Singapore’s footprint across segments such as ecommerce, technology and others.