Singapore and Japan name digital health, precision medicine and biotech as new trade priority

Singapore and Japan have renewed their government-to-government cooperation agreement for a further three years, adding life sciences and healthcare as a priority sector for the first time.

Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) signed the renewed Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) on 2 July at the JETRO Singapore 70th Anniversary Business Forum. The agreement was signed by EnterpriseSG chairman Lee Chuan Teck and JETRO chairman and CEO Ishiguro Norihiko, and exchanged in the presence of JETRO president Susumu Kataoka, Japan’s Ambassador to Singapore Hiroshi Ishikawa, and Singapore’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Industry, Gan Siow Huang.

The renewed MoC sharpens existing collaboration in digital and tech, and green transition and energy, while adding life sciences and healthcare as a third priority area, covering digital health, precision medicine and biotech. Support under the partnership will also broaden beyond start-ups to include high-growth SMEs and larger corporates with established technology and innovation capabilities.

Lee described the renewal as reflecting a shared ambition to deepen collaboration between companies and the wider ecosystem as global conditions grow more complex. Kataoka said the partnership would continue to support the global expansion of innovative businesses and strengthen cross-border ties across ASEAN and beyond.

Neither agency named specific healthcare or digital health companies or collaborations under the new sector at signing; delivery is expected through existing channels including business matching, ecosystem linkages and knowledge-exchange activities.

Japan remains one of Singapore’s largest economic partners: bilateral merchandise trade surpassed SGD 56 billion in 2025, Japan was Singapore’s third-largest source of foreign direct investment, and its second-largest services export destination after the United States in 2024, with bilateral services trade exceeding SGD 67 billion. More than 5,300 Japanese companies are based in Singapore, supporting over 100,000 local jobs.

The renewal follows the Singapore-Japan Strategic Partnership announced by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in March 2026, and coincides with JETRO’s 70th anniversary in Singapore and the 60th anniversary of Singapore-Japan diplomatic relations. The original MoC was first signed in 2022.

For digital health and healthtech companies with cross-border ambitions, the addition of a dedicated life sciences and healthcare track gives a new government-backed channel for business matching, ecosystem linkages and knowledge exchange between two of the region’s more established regulatory environments.