The Singapore-based Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and Japan-based Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) have inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU), with the aim of supporting Japanese R&D activities in Singapore for the next three years.

The partnership not only will promote scientific and technological research activities in Singapore, but also will strengthen SMBC’s value proposition to its Japanese customers who are looking to globalize their business.

Masayuki Shimura, managing director and head of Asia Pacific Division, SMBC, said, “Singapore is a choice location for companies aspiring to develop and optimize their products to cater to the unique characteristics of the expanding markets in Southeast Asia, India and Oceania.”

A*STAR provides a unique infrastructure that is conducive to interactions and collaborations across institutes and disciplines through its activities centered in Biopolis and Fusionoplis, Singapore’s twin research hubs for biomedical and engineering research. By providing intellectual, human and industrial capital to its partners in industry, A*STAR supports Singapore's key economic clusters. It also engages in collaborations with academia and industry to support a vibrant system of generating new ideas and innovations.