Al-Wazir opens Hessian representative office in Singapore

"We want to accompany and support Hessian companies in developing their business relationships in Singapore – and expanding beyond to the ASEAN region," said Al-Wazir. "And of course we also want to encourage Singaporean companies to cooperate with Hessian companies. With our new representative office at the Chamber of Foreign Trade in the German Center Singapore, we are also creating the structural prerequisites."

Support of direct company contacts

Al-Wazir: "The aim of the representative office is to promote direct business contacts between our countries. The interests of small and medium-sized enterprises are to be given special focus. With Julian Doelfs as the first point of contact for the representative office, we have gained a profound expert of Hessen-Asian economic relations."

New contact person for companies

Julian Doelfs has been working in Singapore since 2013, initially in the sales department of a German industrial goods manufacturer, and since 2016 as a consultant for the AHK (German Chambers of Commerce Abroad) Singapore. In this role, he is responsible for advising German companies (especially SMEs) on the business climate in Singapore, market opportunities for specific products, import regulations and business start-ups. The task of the representative office will be to support Hessian companies on their way to Singapore and to inform Singaporean companies interested in Germany about the advantages of working with business partners in Hessen. In the future, networking events on topics such as digitization and logistics will be offered. With the new "Hessen Roundtable" in Singapore, there is also an additional opportunity for representatives of the Hessian business community to meet with Singapore entrepreneurs.

In order to improve mutual information, the new representative office will also publish newsletters and other publications. Participation in trade fairs in Singapore is a separate field of action.

Singapore is one of the most attractive locations worldwide

Dr. Rainer Waldschmidt, Managing Director of Hessen Trade and Invest, described the Republic of Singapore as the gateway to ASEAN, to the markets of Southeast Asia and beyond. "Many international companies have their regional headquarters here. Singapore is also one of the world's most attractive locations for foreign companies. Singapore's top ranking in internationally recognized indices such as the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index, the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index, the Heritage Foundation's Economic Freedom Index, Transparency International's Corruption Index and the UNDP's Human Development Index underscores Singapore's outstanding location qualities."

After the People's Republic of China, Singapore is the second-largest target market for Hessian direct investment (FDI) in Asia and Hessen, making it the fourth-largest source market for FDI - after Korea, Japan and China.

Innovation fields in industrial production

"Industrial production is an important pillar of the Singapore economy," says Al-Wazir. "There are exciting fields of innovation in areas such as Smart Factory, Industry 4.0 and Robotics. All this shows: We have good reasons to come to Singapore."

Discussions on digital change and economic opportunities

Hessen's Minister of Economics Tarek Al-Wazir is currently in Hong Kong and Singapore, accompanied by delegation of 56 members. At both destinations, discussions will be held on digital change and the economic opportunities it entails, on the expertise of our companies in the field of future technologies and on the role of the financial center Frankfurt as a gateway to Europe. The delegation returns to Frankfurt on Saturday.