Latin America offers opportunities in manufacturing, innovation, green economy and agri-trade: Alvin Tan

Business Times

2 days ago

[SINGAPORE] Latin America presents exciting opportunities in four areas – manufacturing, innovation, green economy and agri-trade – for Singapore businesses, said Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan on Thursday (Jul 31).
Amid global uncertainty and trade turmoil, Singapore must continue to build connections with existing and new partners, he said at the second edition of Singapore Business Federation's (SBF) LatAm Conference.
'Our ongoing efforts to bring Singapore and Latin America closer together have become even more important and urgent.'
He set out four areas of opportunity. First, in manufacturing, Latin America is a competitive industrial base, with strong potential for partnership through technology transfers, joint ventures and value chain integration.
Mexico, for instance, has a large domestic market and can also be a base to access Central America. Meanwhile, Costa Rica is a high-value manufacturing hub, particularly in advanced medical devices and semiconductors.
Second, there is room for collaboration between Latin America and Singapore's tech ecosystems.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Sign Up
Sign Up
In 2024, venture capital investment in Latin America surged 26 per cent, with fintech accounting for almost half of that, said Tan. Other fast-growing sectors include e-commerce and logistics, agritech, climate tech and artificial intelligence applications for healthcare.
A third area is the green economy – particularly renewable energy, which accounts for 65 per cent of power generation in Latin America.
Tan highlighted Brazil in particular, both for wind and solar power as well as carbon credits.
Lastly, in agri-trade, Singapore can work with Latin America to strengthen food security and create new opportunities for local agri-food players.
Growing ties
Singapore's trade and business ties with Latin America have been growing, noted Tan.
Trade in goods grew over 20 per cent in the past year to S$35.3 billion, from S$28.5 billion before, with an uptick in trade of machinery, electronics, petroleum and agricultural goods.
Trade in services is also increasing in engineering, telecommunications, computer and information, as well as transport.
'Our strengthening trade architecture at the institution-level will continue to promote and support these flows,' said Tan.
He highlighted the Pacific Alliance-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA) – between Singapore, Chile and Peru – which entered into force this May, and is pending ratification by Colombia and Mexico.
Singapore is also looking forward to the Mercosur-Singapore FTA entering into force, he added, noting that this is the first FTA that the bloc has with a South-east Asian country.
'(This) will open new market opportunities for our businesses with this large South American bloc,' said Tan.
SBF chairman Teo Siong Seng said the federation will continue helping Singapore businesses venture into the region through its Latin America Business Group and GlobalConnect@SBF initiative.
In the past three years, SBF has facilitated over 140 advisory sessions for companies interested in entering the region, he noted. These ranged from matching buyers and sellers of Latin American products, to conducting market research for business development.
Thursday's conference, with more than 180 participants from both sides, included an expert panel on how to operate in Latin America and in-depth sessions on sectoral opportunities and key regional markets.