Southeast Asia is home to some 670 million people, and many of the region’s countries have a notably young population. There is great political, religious and cultural variance; out of the six countries mentioned above one is a parliamentary democracy, two are republics, two are kingdoms and one is a socialist republic. Local knowledge is necessary in seeking permanent and effective cooperation with the region’s education and science sector.
Though the smallest of the countries, Singapore is in many respects a forerunner and a significant investor in other Southeast Asian countries, China and India. The state-owned funds GIC, Temasek and Central Provident Fund (CPF) manage assets worth of EUR 1,220 billion, allowing Singapore to engage in several major development projects in the region. Singapore relies on the United States for its defence, while engaging in high-volume trade with China, another powerful country in the region. Singapore is accustomed to finding the most promising and competent partners and welcomes Finnish leading-edge expertise in fields such as mobile technologies and the green transition. However, there is great untapped potential between the countries, which is highlighted now that the geopolitical boundaries are becoming clearer, especially in this region.
The region’s other countries are interesting especially in terms of attracting talent and exporting educational expertise. Several Finnish commercial players in the education field are operating in Vietnam and Thailand, for example. The development of basic education and vocational education and training offer many opportunities for cooperation. Finland’s country image in the region is rooted in long cooperation relationships (e.g. Vietnam and Thailand) and in our strong reputation in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). This is why Finland has been considered an important reference country for education. At the moment, higher education institutions are attracting talent from Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, whereas Singapore is a popular country for student exchange partnerships among some universities.
The region’s best higher education institutions are worth examining for their cutting‑edge research and expertise in science. Their strongest expertise is in natural sciences and technology, for example in digital solutions, artificial intelligence and computational science. Singapore is a world leader in the digital economy and digital competitiveness. In 2023, the EU and Singapore signed a digital partnership to support top research in technologies such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors. However, research funding is the responsibility of individual Member States, because Singapore does not participate in the Horizon Europe funding programme.
A key mission of the Team Finland Knowledge specialists is to identify opportunities in Southeast Asia and share this information in Finland. We work in two directions in this respect. Full exploitation of the potential will require, above all, close interaction between the Team Finland Knowledge specialist and the higher education institutions.
So let us continue to keep the threshold for contacts low — and set the target high.
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