Digital transformation – learning from the Singapore experience |10 September 2022
Group photo of the Seychelles and Singapore delegates
Last week, a high level delegation comprising government and private sector representatives, undertook a mission to Singapore to learn about the latter’s journey towards a digital society.
The delegation included Finance, National Planning and Trade Minister Naadir Hassan; Investment, Entrepreneurship and Industry Minister Devika Vidot, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education, Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS), Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), as well as United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Seychelles.
The mission, dubbed a South-South Mission, was facilitated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Seychelles, in partnership with the UNDP Global Centre for Technology, Innovation, and Sustainable Development in Singapore.
The five-day mission included several visits at different technological and digital facilities, and discussions with various stakeholders, allowing the Seychelles delegation to know more about the Singapore experience, knowledge and best practices, on its digital transformation.
The mission is part of the Seychelles’ government ambition to embark on a digital transformation, to enable the country to build a resilient economy and society. Since 2021, a steering committee headed by Minister Hassan has been set up to pave the way forward, with the objective of working on a national digital economy strategy, which will serve as a roadmap for the development of the sector.
According to Minister Hassan “establishing and implementing a robust digital transformation strategy for Seychelles requires learning best practices from front-runners. Being an island nation, Singapore provides an important opportunity to enable us to discover our potential.”
This partnership with the UNDP centres on the organisation’s “digital transformation programme in the country to strengthen national capacities and expand the knowledge base by learning from countries and institutions that have walked this journey.”
Minister Devika Vidot pointed out that “attracting private capital in part, will require learning how successful countries such as Singapore are utilising the power of digitalisation to effectively create an enabling business environment for the private sector to thrive.”
On the sideline of the learning mission, Minister Hassan also met and held discussions with the Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies of Singapore, Heng Swee Keat; Minister of State for Ministry of Trade and Industry, Alvin Tan; and Permanent Secretary of the Singapore Public Service Division, Loh Khum Yean.
Contributed
