GO. LEARN. REPRESENT
SINGAPORE-CHINA PROGRAM SEPTEMBER 5-12th, 2015
8 Days - 3 Cities - 15 People
The first AsiaRecon Tour aims to take 12 special people for a 8 day tour to 3 key Asian tech startup hubs, Singapore, Shanghai and Beijing in September 2015. Spending around 2-3 days in each city, the itinerary will be jam packed with eye-opening tours of key places and meetings with impressive people.
The tour will take you to tech company offices, start-up offices, accelerators, co-working spaces and tech parks within each buzzing city. Delegates will meet local entrepreneurs, investors and ecosystem players that will give you more insight, ideas and learning than you will ever get by reading content or watching videos.
We don’t want to burn-out your brain cells, so we’ve got some time built in to relax and enjoy the local Asian culture, food and sights with your new Asia Recon friends.
SINGAPORE
Small enough to be a country and a city, Singapore punches above its weight in the tech startup arena.
In 2013, there was US$1.7 billion venture capital invested in Singapore. Australia pales in comparison with just AUD$111 million.
Singapore’s Government has invested heavily to build up physical infrastructure and space for entrepreneurs to collaborate with its Block-71 buildings. They plan to double the number of startups housed in the Block from 250 to 500 by the end of 2014.
Ranked by the World Bank as the easiest country to do business in the world, Singapore has attracted many international companies to set up their Asian headquarters there. Google, Facebook and Airbnb are just a few who have major operations in Singapore.
Singapore promises to be a wake-up call to Australia.
SHANGHAI, CHINA
Stemming from its history of European occupation, Shanghai is China’s most international and modern city. Undoubtedly, it is also China’s financial capital.
Being a well planned and convenient city, Shanghai has attracted many foreign expats to launch their business. In September 2013, a Free Trade Zone was established, further encouraging more companies to go to China.
In recognition of the importance of technology and innovation by the local government, it has set up zones like Jing An Creative Park and Zhang Jiang Tech Park.
BEIJING, CHINA
Not only the capital and heart of China’s fascinating cultural history, Beijing is also the epicentre of technology and innovation.
Beijing ranks 8th in the World’s most influential cities according to a Forbes study and is recognised for having the most innovative companies in China.
Like California, Beijing is home to China’s most prestigous science and technology universities that churn out the best students. Major tech companies like Baidu, Sina, Qihoo and others fight for this talent.
Zhongguancun has often been labelled China’s Silicon Valley for its concentration of startups, VC firms, co-working spaces, tech parks, electronics markets. It is also where China’s first and largest tech startup incubator started - Innovation Works.