The rise of Singapore over the past few decades into the port-of-call for innovation and business growth into the APAC and ASEAN region has been nothing short of a marvel.

But building up and sustaining that over the years and into the future is founded on innovating the way enterprise and government work together to push forward solutions and technologies in such a way that it is safe, sustainable, and viable for business. 

Our founding managing partner Yinglan Tan goes on call with Liu Chen, Director of Enterprise Development at Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and long-time Singaporean civil service professional, to talk about one institution in particular that has been instrumental in Singapore’s startup and venture capital ecosystem: the Pro-Enterprise Panel (PEP). It is an institution that Yinglan himself has had experience with, having served on the PEP as well.

See Yinglan’s last co-hosted episode with One Capital CEO and Japan SaaS investor Shinji Asada

Timestamps and Highlights

(01:06) Introducing Liu Chen and Singapore’s Pro-Enterprise Panel;

“The PEP is a community of leaders and practitioners who are passionate about driving change to make Singapore much more pro-enterprise, and we facilitate businesses in three ways: the PEP Suggestion Scheme, the First Mover Framework, as well as the New Idea Scheme. 

So for those who are listening to this podcast, I would like to call on all the entrepreneurs out there: if you have an issue that you are facing with a regulatory agency or any issue that you think you’ll need help growing your business, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We can be reached through our website, our social media platform, or email, etc.”

(10:05) Singapore’s Regulatory Innovation with the Green Economy;

“…one of the really emerging sectors that we are seeing today…is the green economy. It is a very important pillar of the future of our economy, and not just for Singapore but also globally. And, of course, it’s a very important part of our longer-term net-zero plans for Singapore. 

But because it is such a nascent sector, it is not so much of an issue of having regulatory hurdles, but very often not having clear regulations in the first place because it’s so new, and in some instances, not having any regulation at all…

This is why, about a year ago, we launched the Green Economy Regulatory Initiative (GERI)…a one-stop sandbox platform that makes available information on all of the government’s existing sandboxes related to the green economy and also sets out a very clear process and timeline for setting up new sandboxes.”

(13:29) Role of PPPs in Driving Innovation in Singapore;

“…based on my experience in Shell, it is very important that for some of these nascent sectors, the government provides a clear strategy or a plan, a roadmap, to give the private sector the confidence to make investments into a particular emerging area. 

As businesses, the private sector, they have the resources and expertise, and they want to bring some of these ideas to fruition, but sometimes the lack of government direction can hinder their decisions. 

In the case of EVs, it was very helpful that the government made a very clear announcement to phase out ICE vehicles, internal combustion engine vehicles, by 2040 in Singapore. So that really gave the industry confidence to go in, create concrete business plans, and sink significant investments to help both the government and also industry itself to achieve the goal in a commercially viable way.”

(16:28) Advice for Founders on Working with the Singapore Government;

“ It is important for both the government and businesses to have a common understanding of the issues or the reasons behind why certain regulations exist and the considerations. And for both sides to be open-minded to discuss alternatives. Don’t be so stubborn on a single way of working. Be flexible to adjust the proposals to achieve, even if not win-win solutions, but at least mutually acceptable outcomes.”

“Having a global outlook and having experience in different markets actually is a very key success factor for many businesses. So PEP does not differentiate between local and foreign entrepreneurs. As long as you have a good business idea that is based in Singapore, we will be happy to help you.”

(22:11) Rapid Fire Round;

The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only, should not be taken as legal, tax, or business advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security, and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Insignia Ventures⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ fund.

Transcript

Transcript has been edited for concision and clarity.

Introducing Liu Chen and Singapore’s Pro-Enterprise Panel

Yinglan: Today we have a very special guest indeed, as Paulo mentioned. Typically, we have VCs, investors, founders. 

Today we have a very special person, what we call a super civil servant in Singaporean parlance, a high flyer in the Singapore civil service but also someone who runs the organization that’s very close to my heart, called the Pro Enterprise Panel, which I’ve been privileged to serve as a member for almost eight and a half years — if I remember correctly, you retire after 10 years. 

I served eight and a half years in this great organization. So I’d love to introduce Liu Chen, who is Director of the Enterprise Development Division at the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Singapore. 

She is a rock star in the Singapore Civil Service, and I think the Pro Enterprise Panel has really been transformed under her leadership with lots of good initiatives. I think the Pro Enterprise Panel is a panel that not many people know about, so I will leave it to Liu Chen to actually share more, and I can also chip in with some views. 

But thanks for being on our show, Liu Chen. I think not that many people appreciate Singapore’s civil service and its efficiency and innovation efforts. So I’d love for you to introduce yourself and how that led you to becoming a director at MTI in a few sentences.

Liu Chen: Thanks Yinglan. Thanks for having me on this show. I’m Liu Chen, the director for Enterprise Development in the Ministry of Trade and Industry and also Secretary to the Pro Enterprise Panel. 

I’ve spent about 12 years in the civil service covering various portfolios from manpower to housing, transport, and now enterprise development. 

I’ve also spent a year on secondment with Shell driving their electric vehicle charging business. So that was in 2020, a very exciting time at the start of COVID. 

Yinglan has been on the PEP for longer than me. So this is really just a dialogue between the two of us. I’ll try to introduce PEP, and you can also feel free to chip in to talk about your experiences, especially from the earlier years, during your time in PEP.

Yinglan: Thanks for being on our show. So let’s zoom into the Pro Enterprise Panel. 

For those who are not familiar, you can tell us what is the role of PEP in Singapore’s innovation landscape. And I think some of the initiatives are the First Mover Framework, the New Idea Scheme, and maybe share some case studies. I think that would be a good start.

Liu Chen: So the PEP or Pro Enterprise Panel is a private-public panel that’s chaired by the Head of Civil Service, Mr. Leo Yip, and comprises business leaders as well as senior public sector officers as its members. 

The panel is supported by a secretariat that’s housed in MTI and also a network of pro enterprise partners, or what we call PE partners, from across 34 different public agencies. So these are really people who are passionate about driving change and bringing positive impact to companies. 

The PEP’s aim is very simple: to identify and address regulatory challenges that businesses face in various stages of their growth, from startups to medium-sized companies, SMEs, to even the large established companies. 

So if you have a problem, come to us, and we’ll try to help you, regardless of which sector you are in, which stage of growth you are in, etc. And we do this through three schemes. 

PEP Suggestion Scheme

The first is the PEP Suggestion Scheme, which gives our businesses an open platform to provide feedback on regulatory-related issues. 

Since you asked for examples, maybe I can talk about Binjai Brew. They call themselves a nano-brewery because they are so small, they are not even a microbrewery, they are a nano-brewery. 

They provided feedback that the existing licenses for microbreweries did not really meet the needs for boutique players like them because in the past, an annual microbrewery license cost $8,400. And it was just too hefty because players like Binjai only made around 10,000 liters per year. So that works out to be almost a dollar per liter, which is a very big part of their cost. PEP and Singapore Customs acted on this feedback. 

Today, microbreweries like Brinjai and all other microbreweries out there, instead of paying $8,400 upfront, they pay $2,100 per quarter in the first year, and they even can get a refund if they decide to close down their business and give up their license early. 

This lowers upfront capital commitments for our budding entrepreneurs so that they can test their products more quickly and then decide what to do with their product, whether to expand it and make it into a much larger business or close down and move on to something else or pivot to something else. So that’s the first one, the PEP Suggestion Scheme. 

First Mover Framework

The second scheme is the First Mover Framework, which supports entrepreneurs with innovative ideas to test their ideas via a direct allocation of government assets. So most typically, that will be state land or industrial space.

I’m not sure whether you have heard of Tiny Away Homes on the Southern Islands. So that was riding on a tiny house wave in the US and Australia, where around five years ago, if I recall correctly, they first established in Australia, helping to build these tiny hotel houses on farms, vineyards, so that these landowners can benefit from the rental that’s generated. 

And having proved the viability of the infrastructure overseas and having quite a robust business model already, Tiny Away fitted into the Sentosa development plans to rejuvenate the Southern Islands. 

Through the First Mover Framework, they were allocated a piece of land to build their Tiny Away homes on the Southern Islands without having to go through the tender process. 

I think a lot of people know that in Singapore, most of our land is actually tendered out through competitive bidding, but in this case, we have the advantage of being able to directly allocate land without having to go through tender for projects and companies that meet a specific set of criteria. 

You must be a first mover; it’s never done before in Singapore. It’s a very innovative idea, you just need something short-term to test it. So that’s the second one, the First Mover Framework. 

New Idea Scheme

The third scheme is the New Idea Scheme, where regulatory agencies will work with businesses to set up regulatory sandboxes to test their ideas in a more controlled and risk-mitigated environment. 

For example, I think many people have heard of DriveLah, which is a P2P car-sharing platform. For this case, we worked very closely with the Ministry of Transport, and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to implement a regulatory sandbox under the New Idea Scheme for DriveLah to test their ideas. 

Previously, under the LTA’s private car rental scheme, private car owners could only rent out their cars on weekends and public holidays. Through this sandbox that’s championed by PEP, DriveLab was able to offer their cars for rental even during weekdays within certain parameters of the sandbox. So now I think they have a fleet of a few hundred vehicles that are being actively rented out even today. 

To recap, the PEP is a community of leaders and practitioners who are passionate about driving change to make Singapore much more pro-enterprise, and we facilitate businesses in three ways: the PEP Suggestion Scheme, the First Mover Framework, as well as the New Idea Scheme. 

For those who are listening to this podcast, I would like to call on all the entrepreneurs out there: if you have an issue that you are facing with a regulatory agency or any issue that you think you’ll need help growing your business, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We can be reached through our website, our social media platform, or email, etc.

Yinglan: Those are great examples. I still remember doing the DriveLah video. 

To add one more example which is close to my heart because I suggested it and it won the Gold Award as a public sector pro-enterprise initiative. The system I had many years ago was this VCFM, the venture capital manager regime framework.

One of the things that impeded VCs from setting up in Singapore was the licensing, which took quite a bit of time. So one of the proposals we made, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)  took on board, was to lower the time it takes for the authorization process of VC managers to support the ecosystem. 

I think that was very well received. In fact, we used to be on this license until we graduated out of it. And I know at least 30 other fellow fund managers that benefited from this scheme.

I think it’s not just for entrepreneurs, but in this case also for professional VC investors like us, and there are many others that stood the test of time. 

So last weekend, I just took my family for a duck tour, and I told them that this is a very interesting vehicle that can float in the Singapore River and go on the land. And you actually have to clear many government agencies because if you go on to the grass, it’s NParks, you go on to the road, it’s LTA. And then I think another agency for the Singapore river, , which will be PUB

So I think actually PEP has touched my life in more ways than I remember.

“The PEP is a community of leaders and practitioners who are passionate about driving change to make Singapore much more pro-enterprise, and we facilitate businesses in three ways: the PEP Suggestion Scheme, the First Mover Framework, as well as the New Idea Scheme.”

Singapore’s Regulatory Innovation with the Green Economy

Yinglan: I wanted to come back to this Liu Chen and maybe get your thoughts on some trends you’re seeing in terms of what you’re working on that call for more regulatory agility and regulatory innovation as a result of the work that you do at PEP. 

And what are some of the interesting things you are seeing — at least for the public ones that we have approved — that you can talk about?

Liu Chen: I think one of the really emerging sectors that we are seeing today, and there’s a lot of talk and action about, is the green economy. 

It is a very important pillar of the future of our economy, and not just for Singapore but also globally. And, of course, it’s a very important part of our longer-term net-zero plans for Singapore. 

But because it is such a nascent sector, it is not so much of an issue of having regulatory hurdles, but very often not having clear regulations in the first place because it’s so new, and in some instances, not having any regulation at all. 

This is why there’s a lot of interest and a lot of ideas out there. Some people find it difficult to execute because there is no regulation. They don’t know how to set boundaries to work within. This is why, about a year ago, we launched the Green Economy Regulatory Initiative (GERI). 

In short, GERI is a one-stop sandbox platform that makes available information on all of the government’s existing sandboxes related to the green economy and also sets out a very clear process and timeline for setting up new sandboxes. 

Some entrepreneurs who have dealt with government regulations in the past may know that you probably have to spend a lot of time navigating government websites, checking in, and calling the hotline to figure out a particular regulation or its parameters. 

And you could engage in conversations and discussions with agencies for sometimes a month or even a year about setting up a new sandbox, and eventually you’re told that it is a no-go, it’s a lot of wasted effort. Also, a lot of business ideas couldn’t come to fruition because of regulatory issues. 

Under GERI, we have gathered together more than 20 different regulatory agencies and got all of them to commit to lean forward and take a facilitative approach to set up sandboxes with a very expedited timeline. 

Instead of spending months or even years negotiating a sandbox, within 30 days after receiving a complete proposal, our agencies have committed to providing a provisional decision on whether to continue discussions to build a sandbox. 

And in the next four to six months, with a maximum of six months, the sandbox should be up and running. This actually cuts the amount of time, effort, and resources wasted significantly. 

Under GERI, there are eight focus areas that we are mainly interested in, such as hydrogen, carbon trading, circular economy, electric vehicles, and if you have other ideas from different domains. We’ll be happy to take a look as well. 

So far, we have seen quite a number of very interesting proposals, some more preliminary, and some are quite close to commercialization already. The team is working with the agencies to evaluate them now. We hope that some of these projects can grow into big businesses and eventually benefit Singapore and Singaporeans.

“…one of the really emerging sectors that we are seeing today…is the green economy…But because it is such a nascent sector, it is not so much of an issue of having regulatory hurdles, but very often not having clear regulations in the first place because it’s so new, and in some instances, not having any regulation at all…This is why, about a year ago, we launched the Green Economy Regulatory Initiative (GERI).”

Role of PPPs in Driving Innovation in Singapore

Yinglan: I also wanted to go back to the background you shared. I think the civil service is quite forward looking to send you out to Shell and having worked there at the Shell EV initiatives, not many of the listeners may know your role also involves having supervisory oversight for a very powerful organization called Enterprise Singapore. 

And in your role in assisting with PPP, how do you see some of these PPPs moving the needle in terms of green economy, innovation, and some enterprises working in this space?

Liu Chen: This is a very good question actually. The government is very open to leverage PPPs when we believe that the private sector participation can add value to the delivery of whether it’s public services or infrastructure, or financing options, or even knowledge expertise. 

We’ve had many PPPs in the past, some more successful than others. So maybe in the era of the green economy, one of the PPPs I can think of is Tuas Nexus, which is a project between NEA, the National Environment Agency, and the private sector consortium to develop an integrated waste management facility.

That facility will use advanced technologies to convert waste into energy and also other useful products. And it’s expected to reduce Singapore’s carbon emissions by up to 200,000 tons per year. 

I think there are a few other PPPs out there, whether it’s in the green economy or other areas, but beyond PPPs, especially based on my experience in Shell, it is very important that for some of these nascent sectors, the government provides a clear strategy or a plan, a roadmap, to give the private sector the confidence to make investments into a particular emerging area. 

As businesses, the private sector, they have the resources and expertise, and they want to bring some of these ideas to fruition, but sometimes the lack of government direction can hinder their decisions. 

In the case of EVs, it was very helpful that the government made a very clear announcement to phase out ICE vehicles, internal combustion engine vehicles, by 2040 in Singapore. So that really gave the industry confidence to go in, create concrete business plans, and sink significant investments to help both the government and also industry itself to achieve the goal in a commercially viable way. 

During my time in Shell, we negotiated the partnership between Shell and Porsche to build a network of high-power EV charging infrastructure along the North-South Highway in Malaysia. So that links the whole network of Shell high-power EV chargers in Singapore all the way, I think now they’re up to KL, and eventually they’ll go to Penang and hopefully one day link to China.

So that’s quite exciting because it’s very unprecedented, this kind of intra-country charging network where everything is interoperable. Even the payment is interoperable. 

Actually, I had a friend who was daring enough to drive his Tesla from Singapore all the way up to KL and back quite recently. And fortunately, both him and his Tesla are safely back in Singapore now, relying on some of the EV charging stations along the way.

“…it is very important that for some of these nascent sectors, the government provides a clear strategy or a plan, a roadmap, to give the private sector the confidence to make investments into a particular emerging area. As businesses, the private sector, they have the resources and expertise, and they want to bring some of these ideas to fruition, but sometimes the lack of government direction can hinder their decisions.”

Advice for Founders on Working with the Singapore Government

Yinglan: I think your experience was great. I wanted to get you to share your views after spending time in both the private sector and also working closely with Enterprise SG and PEP. 

What one-line advice would you give founders or entrepreneurs when it comes to working with government organizations, given you have been on both sides?

Liu Chen: I think the very first fundamental thing is mutual understanding because regulators are not there to create barriers for the sake of creating barriers and making life difficult for entrepreneurs. That’s very far from the truth, so it is very often they have reasons or concerns related to safety, security, or fair competition, consumer protection, etc. 

It is important for both the government and businesses to have a common understanding of the issues or the reasons behind why certain regulations exist and the considerations. And for both sides to be open-minded to discuss alternatives. Don’t be so stubborn on a single way of working. Be flexible to adjust the proposals to achieve, even if not win-win solutions, but at least mutually acceptable outcomes. 

I think that is very fundamental and during my time in Shell, and also now working in MTI, I find that common understanding is very often not quite there yet. And I think one useful way to go about establishing that common understanding is to know where to get the resources and the help that’s needed to establish a common understanding. PEP is one channel obviously, and we welcome you to reach out to us anytime through any of our platforms. 

There’s also GoBusiness, which is a one-stop platform for all the government business transactions. This is a joint initiative by MTI and GovTech. 

You can think of it like a SingPass, but for businesses where throughout the company’s life journey, almost all the interactions that you ever have with the government can be found in one form or another through the GoBusiness app. 

So that’s from pre-incorporation where you can do research, find information about the sector that you want to go into, the business you want to go into, the different business formats within a particular sector. Then once you’ve made up your mind about what you want to do, such as incorporating a company, and that can be done via the GoBusiness platform. 

And then subsequently when you’re ready to grow your business, to internationalize, there’s a suite of available business grants and support schemes that also can be applied through the GoBusiness platform. 

I think that is a fantastic platform to get all this information and you will actually receive personalized guidance each step of the way by answering a few simple questions on the needs that you have. 

Of course, we also have our network of partners, whether it’s the trade associations or our engagement partners, the NUS Enterprise as well as some of the VCs and government-backed equity funds who can also help entrepreneurs navigate that rather complex and opaque landscape.

Yinglan: After having spent time in emerging markets, I certainly wish more governments were like Singapore. And I just don’t mean to toot our own country’s horn, but I think we’re always ranked either number one, if not number two on the ease of doing business index. 

And I guess one big change is that Singapore is becoming an interesting place for foreign founders to set up their headquarters or initial base of operations.

Liu Chen: We welcome talent. We welcome all these entrepreneurs to come and set up in Singapore. They bring diversity to our business community and also innovation. They enrich the innovation landscape here. 

In fact, having a global outlook and having experience in different markets actually is a very key success factor for many businesses. PEP does not differentiate between local and foreign entrepreneurs. As long as you have a good business idea that is based in Singapore, we will be happy to help you. 

One good example of a foreign entrepreneur who actually anchored himself in Singapore is Julian Artopé, the founder of Zenium. I think they’re most famous for their invisible braces. I think he has had experiences in many parts of the world: Europe, Asia, Africa. He was even in Asia, in KL, and now in Singapore. 

And through these unique experiences, he was able to build up a business model that actually caters to the dental needs of the current generation of people in Singapore. And it came in especially useful during COVID because he does tele dentistry consulting. 

But because it is a new business format where he partners with dental clinics to offer those invisible braces at an affordable cost and using telemedicine consultation services for dental issues arising from the usage of braces, they actually encountered difficulties in defining the liabilities of the company and their partner clinics because treatment plans were offered via their app and the company was not recognized as a healthcare provider by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Singapore Dental Council (SDC).

We actually met Zenyum, I think in 2019, when they participated in the PEP clinic organized by the Action Community for Entrepreneurship. PEP worked closely with Zenyum, MOH, and SDC to clarify some of these issues that were very unique to an intermediary kind of telemedicine service provider. 

These engagements have enabled Zenium to carry out their services without being restricted by MOH and SDC guidelines. Since then, I think the company has grown very well. In fact, many of my colleagues in the PEP team have used their products, whether it’s braces or electric toothbrushes. 

We certainly welcome more entrepreneurs like Julian to come to Singapore to set up shop here, and PEP will be happy to walk the journey with them.

“Having a global outlook and having experience in different markets actually is a very key success factor for many businesses. So PEP does not differentiate between local and foreign entrepreneurs. As long as you have a good business idea that is based in Singapore, we will be happy to help you.”

Rapid Fire Round

Yinglan: Now we’ve come to the rapid-fire round where I ask you a question and you give me a short answer. If you were to be invited to produce a Netflix series, what would be the title of the show?  

Liu Chen: Maybe “Barrier Breakers,” because that is the mission and the spirit ofthe PEP. We want to showcase the growth journey of some of our local startups, their experiences, their successes, as well as failures and lessons learned so that they can inspire more people, especially our young people, to pursue entrepreneurship as a career option.  

Yinglan: That’s actually a good idea. We should send it to Netflix to produce a PEP show. And second question, looking back now after having served in MTI and Shell, what is a skill, soft or hard skill, that you wish you had learned as a student?  

Liu Chen: I really wish that when I was in Sec 1, when we were asked to choose a third language, I had chosen Bahasa instead of French. Because back then when you’re young, everybody wanted to study something fancy, right? Whether it’s French or German. I think nowadays, Japanese and Korean are also very popular. But I think they are mostly [not useful] when you start working, whereas things like Bahasa, or even some dialects, would be much more useful in the regional context.  

And especially Bahasa, which I think captures a large part of our regional population as well. So that’s one regret. I would say that it would have been better if I made a different decision back then.  

Yinglan: That’s great news because I forced all my three kids to take Bahasa Indonesian as a third language. They complain every dinner, but now I can quote what you said and tell them you have turned out very well. 

With the advent of ChatGPT, if there’s something you could automate in your job, just by wishing for it, what aspect of your role would that be?  

Liu Chen: Maybe not ChatGPT per se, but if Insignia could go and invest in an autonomous vehicle company that can drive me from home to work every day and automate that part of my work journey, that would be fantastic. I absolutely hate driving. That’s the most stressful part of my work every day.  

Yinglan: What’s your favorite go-to holiday destination in Southeast Asia? And which trip are you most excited to take in the region?  

Liu Chen: I would say my favorite place is still Singapore because nothing beats home. 

But if you are really looking for something outside of Singapore, I would say maybe nowadays I travel a little bit more to Indonesia. I visited the Komodo Islands last year and I’m planning for a trip to Sumba Island later this year. They have amazing natural scenery and also a very diverse culture.  

How about you Yinglan, what’s your favorite go-to destination?  

Yinglan: That’s a good question. Actually, it’s just our natural parks, our nature parks, because during COVID, one of the things we do every day is to bring the family or friends to do walks. And we still do that. For the founders that are not in Singapore, one of the great things you should spend on the weekends in Singapore is to go through our nature parks, which are quite splendid and quite well maintained. 

What is your favorite activity to de-stress?  

Liu Chen: Nothing can beat a long, work-free holiday, where there is good scenery, good food, good company, and no laptop.  

Yinglan: On that note, thank you so much, Liu Chen, for being on our show. I’m sure a lot of our audience who have not known about PEP are now interested. 

And I would encourage you to write in to PEP because there’s actually a lot of interesting ideas being proposed and some of them that get approved actually turn out to benefit the public. 

You can build a nice business out of it. And it’s actually very rewarding. A lot of our founders that I met that benefited from PEP like DriveLah, like you mentioned, like the Zenyum founders, are very thankful for the scheme. So, thanks for telling our audience about the PEP and also sharing a bit of your background. I really enjoyed the chat.