A government initiative, the EntrePass scheme, has the aim of attracting more global start-ups by broadening the criteria and making it easier for them to establish operations here.
Under the newly added criteria, start-ups can also be assessed other factors, outside of financing and funding, such as their entrepreneurial and investment track records, business networks and key achievements in their areas of expertise.
In a joint statement from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), Spring Singapore and Startup SG, the objective of the scheme is to acknowledge non-monetary contributions of global start-up talent such as expertise and relevance.
The validity period of each EntrePass will be extended to two years (from one year) after the first renewal, to provide more certainty for global entrepreneurs in scaling up their businesses.
Besides Spring, the enhanced EntrePass scheme will include two new partner agencies – the Infocomm Media Development Authority and the National Research Foundation, supported by SGInnovate. These agencies will work with MOM to evaluate the applications in their respective sectors.
Senior Minister of State for MTI Koh Poh Koon said in the statement that this scheme is a part of the Government’s effort to create a vibrant landscape to attract global start-up talents, as well as to promote local start-ups and eventually create new industry sectors and job opportunities for Singapore.
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Source: The Straits Times, 3 August 2017