U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Singapore’s Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo announced recently a new partnership between the two countries to promote women in tech, the Department of Commerce (DOC) reports.
The announcement of the U.S.-Singapore Women in Tech Partnership Program (WITPP) was made during a panel discussion with Singaporean women business leaders at the SelectUSA Investment Summit, held June 26-29 in National Harbor, Md. Raimondo said the program connecting women tech entrepreneurs and professionals "will be a unique forum to learn from each other," the DOC reported June 26.
“Helping women-owned companies grow and succeed is a passion I share with Minister Teo," Raimondo said in the DOC report, "and we look forward to helping these women entrepreneurs make big and bold business moves from both sides of our world.”
The WITPP between the U.S. and Singapore will allow "budding and experienced women tech leaders" to build international networks and pursue learning and business opportunities through workshops, mentoring "and other activities that facilitate partnerships between companies for in-market expansion," the DOC states. "These engagements will enable cross-pollination of ideas and provide greater support for women entrepreneurs exploring business opportunities overseas."
Raimondo told participants of the panel discussion that the Select Global Women in Tech Mentorship Network, which she initiated at the June 2021 SelectUSA Investment Summit, attracted more than 70 women founders from 30 global markets, according to a DOC transcript of her remarks.
"The Select Global Women in Tech Mentorship Network allows for female tech entrepreneurs from around the world to receive mentorship and grow their businesses in the U.S. market," Raimondo said in her remarks.
Raimondo said during her November 2021 visit to Singapore, she met with Teo and the pair co-hosted a roundtable with women tech entrepreneurs to discuss their opportunities "in the digital economy."
"It was wonderful to hear from the women working in Singapore’s tech space about their successes and challenges," Raimondo said at the WITPP announcement.
SelectUSA, an initiative to bring foreign investment into the U.S. markets, is conducting events throughout the year, Raimondo said according to the transcript, and that the DOC was eager to have companies from Singapore participate. She said that mentors from Singapore can also assist U.S. entrepreneurs enter the Singapore tech world.
"I hope that initiatives like the Women in Tech Partnership Program that Commerce Department is launching today," Raimondo said in the announcement, "will help more female entrepreneurs from our two countries succeed in achieving their trade and investment goals."
