To accelerate the growth of local agriculture and aquaculture businesses, the Enterprise Singapore (ESG) has set aside over S$55 million (US$39 million). The funds will help companies develop innovation capabilities to grow more with less. Asia’s agri-food sector remains a bright spot amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this sector requires S$1.1 trillion more in investments by 2030 for Asia to meet the region's agricultural needs according to a report by PwC, Temasek Holdings and Dutch multinational Rabobank.
The funding builds on ESG’s ongoing efforts to develop a vibrant agri-food tech ecosystem that will catalyse innovation and scalable solutions to meet evolving needs. As part of these efforts, ESG also encourages the industry to adopt cutting-edge agriculture and aquaculture technologies.
“There is an urgency for our agriculture and aquaculture companies to leverage agri-food technologies to address the growing demand locally, as well as globally,” said Ted Tan, deputy CEO, Enterprise Singapore. “We will also continue to support agri-food tech start-ups and the use of disruptive innovation to future-proof food production in Asia.”
He added: “The current COVID-19 situation has underscored the importance of this, amidst the disruptions observed across the global food supply chain. The additional funding will provide a boost to these companies as they build their capabilities and scale-up. This [funding] will not only contribute towards national food resilience but further strengthen their global competitiveness." (Image from Unsplash)
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