Singapore, Australia to invest A$20 million in new green co-innovation programme for SMEs

SINGAPORE and Australia will set aside A$20 million (S$17.8 million) for a new programme to drive co-innovation between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from both countries for green products and services.

The Go-Green Co-Innovation Programme (GGCIP), as it is called, was announced by Acting Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at a joint press conference at the Istana on Friday (Jun 2).

They were speaking to the media at the end of the eighth Singapore-Australia Leaders’ Meeting, with Wong taking the place of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as the latter tested positive again for Covid-19 on Thursday.

The funds under the GGCIP will be used to support SMEs from Singapore and Australia to engage in co-innovation activities and explore collaboration across green growth sectors over the next four years.

These include green sectors of mutual interest such as renewable and clean energy; sustainable agribusiness and food; built environment and infrastructure; waste management and circular economy; and environmental monitoring, analysis and assessment.

The GGCIP is Singapore’s first sustainability-focused bilateral co-innovation programme and is part of the landmark Singapore-Australia Green Economy Agreement, which was signed by PM Lee and Albanese in Canberra last October.

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At the press conference, Wong said that the two countries have made “significant progress” on their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) since it was established in 2015.

Singapore and Australia have jointly completed over 110 initiatives across the six pillars of cooperation, he noted. Bilateral trade between the countries has also grown by more than 25 per cent last year.

“As we approach the CSP’s 10th anniversary in 2025, It is timely for us to identify strategic and ambitious new areas of cooperation befitting of two trusted and reliable partners,” said Wong.

Albanese described the meeting between the two leaders as “very constructive” and they discussed on how they could build upon the CSP and do more in the future. Singapore is Australia’s largest two-way trading partner and investor in South-east Asia.

Besides the GGCIP, Singapore and Australia will also cooperate in green and digital shipping, as well as green and transition finance, as part of efforts to deepen collaboration in the green economy.

Both countries have commenced discussions to explore cooperation in green and digital shipping, and will establish a Singapore-Australia Green and Digital Shipping Corridor by end-2025.

Agencies from both countries are working with port operators, relevant jurisdictions and maritime and energy value chain stakeholders to drive action to decarbonise and digitalise the shipping industry. This includes the establishment of low and zero-carbon fuel supply chains.

As for green and transition finance, Singapore and Australia will contribute funds to the new S$5 million Asia Climate Solutions Design Grant to facilitate more green and transition finance flows to the region.

The grant – developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and hosted by Convergence, a global network for blended finance – will provide early-stage grant funding for proof of concept and feasibility studies on blended finance solutions to fund sustainability projects.

Wong noted that Singapore and Australia have many shared objectives.

“We both want a greener and cleaner future and we will get to net zero. We both want more resilient supply chains, particularly in critical areas like food and energy,” he said. “That very clear alignment of objectives between our governments and countries will provide many opportunities for the private sector to collaborate.”

Besides collaborations in the green economy, Singapore and Australia have also made progress in the areas of food and the arts.

Both countries are finalising details on a set of guiding principles and a work plan under a bilateral Food Pact framework, which is aimed at facilitating agri-food trade flows between Singapore and Australia.

Singapore and Australia have also agreed to renew the Australia-Singapore Arts Group for a second term to 2025. Established in 2016, the group provides strategic and expert advice on arts and cultural engagement, exchange and partnership opportunities, and collaborative capability development between the creative sectors of Singapore and Australia.

In his remarks, Albanese said that the countries also discussed ways to deepen cooperation on regional and national security matters.

“We know that security isn’t just about defence. It’s also about our capacity to be less vulnerable to shocks,” he pointed out. “We are strengthening the security and resilience of our supply chains and facilitating the flow of critical goods between us.”

While in Singapore, Albanese also called on President Halimah Yacob at the Istana. On Friday evening, he will deliver the keynote address at the annual Shangri-la Dialogue, a regional security forum that has been held in Singapore since 2002.