Singapore, 29 August 2017 – Enterprises in the biomedical and healthcare, manufacturing and engineering, and deep tech sectors can soon look forward to receiving a boost to grow and scale up, and expand into overseas markets with the right innovation and intellectual property growth strategies, according to the Intellectual Properry Office of Singapore (IPOS).

IPOS and Deloitte Southeast Asia Financial Advisory Services (Deloitte) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today to deepen cooperation to drive the growth of innovative enterprises, and enhance Singapore’s position as an IP and innovation hub. The MoU, which brings together IPOS’ technical expertise in IP and Deloitte’ global business network and expertise in IP and financial advisory services, was signed by Mr Daren Tang, Chief Executive of IPOS, and Mr Keoy Soo Earn, Executive Director and Regional Managing Partner of Deloitte Southeast Asia’s Financial Advisory practice. The signing took place at IP Week @ SG 2017.

The partnership reflects IPOS’ ongoing efforts as an innovation agency to build a vibrant and globally-connected innovation ecosystem, strengthen innovative enterprises’ competitiveness through using IP as a strategic business asset, and help them take their products and services to international markets, in line with the key recommendations highlighted in the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE) Report.

IPOS and Deloitte will target to build a strong base of 100 growth enterprises that are innovation-driven, and groom them to become future global market leaders. At the enterprise level, IPOS and Deloitte will help companies to:

• Understand technology trends to make strategic decisions for investment, and research and development;
• Connect to emerging and disruptive technologies in the fast-growing markets and start-up communities;
• Bring their products and services to the market by using the IP and other intangible assets to compete and scale globally, and providing access to an in-market network of business partners and financial investors; and
• Commercialise their IP and other intangible assets for business growth.

At the ecosystem level, the partnership represents another one of the connections Singapore is building for innovative enterprises from anywhere in the world to establish their operations there, access IP services and networks, and use Singapore as a gateway to high-growth markets in Asia and beyond. Supported by a world-class IP regime, the innovation ecosystem will encourage innovation-led companies to gain a strong foothold in Singapore to monetise their ideas and IP through easy access to market opportunities, technology and commercialisation expertise, strategic advisory and services and global connections.

"Intellectual asset management is an essential component for businesses to remain relevant in this digital era. Through this partnership with IPOS, we are committed to help more innovative, IP centric enterprises achieve their next phase of growth and establish a stronger foothold in the global markets by leveraging on their intellectual assets. Enterprises will be able to tap on our global networks and professional expertise to gain a deeper access into technology, market and growth capital. We also hope to build a conducive and progressive environment that will encourage more of such foreign enterprises to establish their operations in Singapore and develop Singapore as a gateway to the global markets,” said Keoy.

Tang said, “The enterprises of today are increasingly built around IP and other intangible assets like know-how, data and digital platforms. As Asian economies develop, we are seeing more and more companies where a significant share of their enterprise value is in their intangible assets, including IP. To drive enterprise growth through innovation, Singapore must shift its focus on enabling innovative companies to commercialise their IP, scale up and internationalise quickly. This partnership with Deloitte will help Singapore enrich its innovation ecosystem with the right skills and global networks to help enterprises anchor their ideas in Singapore, monetise their IP and intangible assets, and springboard to the world.”