S'pore's first govt-to-govt project in China seeks continued edge

It remains relevant as a beacon for China's connection with the world: Chan Chun Sing

- Joyce ZK and Yew Lun Tian

SHENZHEN / SINGAPORE - When biomedical engineer Kevin Koh sought to take his Singaporean start-up to China, he was pointed to the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) by some unlikely sources: the park's own competitors.

A number of industrial parks in other Chinese cities, which he had visited in mid-2022 while in search of a landing point for his medical technology firm, unwittingly nudged him towards the SIP by benchmarking themselves against it.

They would say things like, "we are almost at Suzhou's level", the founder and chief executive of Vivo Surgical recalled. This further piqued his interest in the SIP - located in the prosperous eastern coastal province of Jiangsu, close to the financial hub Shanghai - of which his friends in the industry had spoken highly.

Dr Koh, whose company is developing a flexible endoscopic robot to remove larger cancerous tissues during colonoscopies, eventually opened an office at the SIP in January 2023.

Major draws were the park's business-friendly attitude, a robust ecosystem for developing medical devices and the presence of major international players in his industry, he told The Straits Times.

And the "cherry on the cake", he said, was the Republic's longstanding involvement in the SIP, which helped to generate goodwill and open doors for his business in China.

As the pioneering industrial park - the first intergovernmental project between Singapore and China - marks its 30th anniversary in 2024, attracting innovative companies remains important for its operators as they position themselves for the SIP's next decade and more.

China's developmental objectives have evolved over the past 30 years, and as those goals moved from expanding traditional manufacturing to nurturing advanced technologies, the SIP has had to update its industries to stay relevant.