Canadian PM Trudeau Spotlights Canadian Fintech in Singapore

Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau placed the Canadian fintech space in the spotlight during his recent visit to Singapore.

Trudeau was in Singapore as part of a bilateral trip to Papua New Guinea as he met his counterparts in the region. The prime minister looked to attract global investments while also expanding and diversifying trade. The four day trip included his participation in the 33rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit and the Singapore Fintech Festival.

At the focal point of Trudeau’s visit in Singapore was Canada’s fintech space. There, he met with leaders of numerous companies as part of a financial roundtable discussion by investment firm Temasek Holdings. Some of leaders were from the companies like DBS Bank (SGX:MU7) and Razer (HKG:1337), Singapore Power and Singtel (SGX:Z74).

Crucially, Min-Liang Tang, CEO of Razer CEO,revealed in a tweet the context of the discussions, which largely revolved around fintech and eSports. Although the exact details of the discussions are not revealed, in a Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) post, Tan said that “lots of big news [is] coming up soon.”

In a separate release, the Prime Minister’s office said that Razer has “signalled interest in Canadian talent and technology.”

Prior to this meeting, Trudeau spoke at the Singapore Fintech Forum, which is part of the third annual Singapore Fintech Festival. Trudeau highlighted how Canadian fintech companies are “leading the industry” and helping people across the world to transact in a better way.

“Canadian fintech companies are keeping banking up-to-date in the ever changing digital market, making investing easier and more accessible, and helping people to keep more of their hard earned money,” Trudeau said.

Trudeau also stressed on the Canadian tech sector as being a stronger force when people collaborate and urged Singapore and Canada to work closely.

“It’s a smart move for Canada and Singapore to work together,” he said. “It’s how we create the right conditions for our fintech sector to grow and prosper; build shared success, not just here but around the world.”

It was noted in the release from the Prime Minister’s office that most of Canada’s top financial institutions and around 150 Canadian firms have operations in Singapore. Singapore is also seen as a top destination of Canadian investments as Canadian direct investments in Singapore was C$5.7 billion in 2017. On a contrasting scale, Singapore’s investment in Canada was C$354 million in 2017.

In his speech, Trudeau compared the “stable” banking sector of Canada with the “reliable” banking system of Singapore and said that it is the foundation for growth.

“Our contribution here at this fintech summit, our contributions all around the world, is really the calling card that we have right now, that is making the world to take notice of Canada” he said.

Trudeau highlighted how Canada is making investments in various sectors of technology as the country seeks to double down on the future.

“..with the fourth industrial revolution is coming, an opportunity to reshape the world, reshape the nature of work,” he said. “Our investments in AI, our investments in the tech industry…are demonstrating that we get where the world is going.”

The Canadian fintech market is projected to grow significantly with digital payments being termed as the largest segment of fintech in Canada in 2018 by Statista. The total transaction value, which currently is pegged at US$69.21 billion, is set to demonstrate a compound annual growth rate of 7.6 percent to reach US$92.71 billion by 2022.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Bala Yogesh hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.