Brief: Singapore government merges startup-focused agencies

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The news (extracted from Channel NewsAsia):

• Singapore is merging two government agencies focused on helping local businesses, International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore) and SPRING Singapore. The merged entity will be named Enterprise Singapore.
• Previously, SPRING was responsible for helping Singaporean startups and SMEs in areas such as financing, capabilities, technology, and innovation. IE Singapore promoted international trade and partnered Singaporean companies to help them expand globally.
• “By integrating the resources and capabilities of IE Singapore and SPRING, Enterprise Singapore will be able to better address the needs of Singapore companies and strengthen their competitiveness,” the country’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said in a press release.

Why it matters:

• The Singapore government has been consolidating other parts of its tech-focused infrastructure of late. In March, the city-state launched an umbrella branding initiative known as Startup SG to unify its various startup support schemes.
• Singapore has been seeing fast growth in its startup ecosystem. According to MTI data, the number of startups in Singapore has more than doubled from 22,000 in 2003 to 48,000 in 2015.