Given Singapore's involvement in the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP), it comes as no surprise that the Southeast Asian country would have one of their most reputable universities located within the park.

But according to Hui Kwok Leong, the associate director of the National University of Singapore (NUS), the institute's presence in SIP is in no way a token one.

Occupying 20,000 square meters in the industrial park, the National University of Singapore Suzhou Research Institute (NUSRI) is the first research and education establishment in the zone that is managed by a top Asian university. NUS was ranked first in the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings which was released in June.

"NUSRI is dedicated to promoting collaboration between the two countries. It's a two-way street - we're not just here to push Singapore technology or products," said Hui, who helms the enterprise and incubation programs in the institute.

Hui added that NUSRI is also committed to fostering ties in three main areas, namely education, technology research and enterprise matters.

In terms of education, the institute offers a variety of courses spanning areas such as science, engineering, real estate, public policy and executive education focused on the development of future leaders.

With regard to research, NUSRI has established collaborations with a host of Chinese universities such as Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Tsinghua University and Tianjing University.

The institute also has a well-developed enterprise and incubation program that provides entrepreneurs with all-rounded support as well as access to an extensive business network in China. Hui said that there are currently more than 30 projects being incubated, with 18 of them being from Singapore and the rest originating from China.

"Here at NURSI, we aim to use technology from Singapore to help Chinese start-ups upgrade themselves so that they can go global. On the other hand, Singapore start-ups can benefit from the vast networks here in China," said Hui.

One of the success stories from NUSRI is Singapore company PatSnap, whose analysis software makes life much easier for entrepreneurs searching for patents.

Hui said that PatSnap, which was founded in 2007, did not manage to achieve much growth during its initial years in Singapore but was given a major boost when it arrived in China. It has since expanded its operations to other cities such as London, Shanghai, and Beijing.

"I think the company managed to get 80 partners within two months of setting up in Suzhou, thanks to the assistance that NUSRI and the local government provided. Before long, they were expanding quickly across the region. Last year, they managed to secure $11 million in Series B funding and had an impressive revenue of around $5 million," said Hui.

Last year, NUSRI held the inaugural InnovFest Suzhou - a spinoff of the annual InnovFest event in Singapore - on its campus grounds. The event showcased 28 tech projects from Singapore and was attended by numerous Chinese officials and entrepreneurs who used the opportunity to network with their Singaporean counterparts and learn more about the tech being exhibited.

According to Hui, the number of projects and attendees at this year's event in June had almost doubled, an indication of the deepening ties between the two countries. He noted that new technologies related to water and environmental energy were the focus for this year.

NUSRI had also worked with various government departments to organize a joint event showcasing these innovations at a low-carbon function that was held after InnovFest Suzhou.

"I hope that more Singaporeans can make use of this platform provided by NUSRI to explore the scene here in China," said Hui.

"There is so much market potential here and Singaporean companies should take the time to find out how they can tap into this."

alywin@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 07/16/2016 page10)