Singapore minister Teo Ser Luck envisions Asia as the next Silicon Valley (Startup Asia preview)

(Image credit: Singapore Manufacturing Federation)

We’re just a week away from the opening of our Startup Asia Singapore 2014, which is on May 7 and 8. The conference opens with a reminder of the big picture behind the toiling of so many entrepreneurs in the region – about building up Asia to be a tech powerhouse, to be the next Silicon Valley.

Teo Ser Luck, Singapore’s Minister of State for Trade and Industry, will present the opening keynote entitled ‘Why Asia Can Be The Next Silicon Valley’. Since taking that ministerial post in 2011, Mr. Teo has been actively involved in Singapore’s startup ecosystem, and no doubt he’ll have choice words about Singapore’s role in Asia’s tech-oriented future.

While listening to the keynote, you might like to remember where Asia stands in terms of tech right now. Asia’s ecommerce market is worth $525.5 billion this year; the continent has 390 million active users of Facebook; and the region is the future of the mobile internet. That’s the landscape that most of Asia’s startups launch into, and it’s one that increasingly serves as a launchpad for local startups into the rest of the world.

If you haven’t got your Startup Asia Singapore tickets yet, there’s still time. Today (April 30) is the last day to receive a 10 percent discount with the EarlyBirdApril code.