Brainport and Singapore see a 2-way opportunity in various fields

At EY BrainportConnect in Eindhoven on Thursday, 16 April, the conversation about Brainport’s future quickly moved beyond the region itself. In a panel with Brigit van Dijk, CEO of the Brabantse Ontwikkelings Maatschappij (BOM), Pee Beng Kong, executive vice president of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), and ASML board member Wayne Allan, one theme stood out: if Brainport wants to remain globally relevant, it should not only defend its strengths at home, but also build smarter partnerships abroad.

Singapore emerged in that discussion as more than a useful outpost in Asia. It was presented as a natural partner for Brainport: small, open, ambitious, internationally oriented, and deeply invested in technology. Semiconductors were the obvious starting point, but the panel made clear that the potential reaches further, into medtech, photonics, AI and advanced manufacturing.

Concentrated

Van Dijk began by sketching the role of BOM in Brabant’s economy. Its mission, she said, is “to strengthen our regional economy here in Brabant.” That economy is growing fast, but it is also heavily concentrated. “We focus a lot on ASML, the presence of ASML in the semicon industry,” she said, calling that concentration both a strength and a risk.

That is why BOM has deliberately chosen six domains in which Brabant believes it can compete globally: decentralized effective energy systems, medtech and life sciences, fermentation technologies, AI, deep tech, and defense. The ambition, Van Dijk said, is clear: “We feel that we can excel, that we have the ambition to excel on a global level. So basically, to play Champions League in those six areas.”

But regional excellence alone is not enough. Van Dijk’s central point was that Brainport, however strong, is too small to grow by itself. “Brainport is great. Brainport is fantastic. But the Netherlands remains a small area, geographically and from an economic perspective,” she said. Later, she compressed that idea into an even sharper line: “Brainport can test it, but is too small for global expansion.”

That is where Singapore comes in.

Van Dijk knows the city-state well from personal experience. “Having lived myself in Singapore for almost five years, two of my kids are born there,” she said. When BOM reassessed its Asian strategy, Singapore increasingly stood out. The resemblance with the Netherlands was striking. “It has a lot of similarities if you compare that to Brainport or the Netherlands,” she said. “It’s a small, ambitious, open economy. It is a gateway to Asia, we’re a gateway to Europe. It has a high level of tech-educated talent. There is a strong ambition to innovate.”

Those similarities led BOM, together with Brainport Industries, to start building practical ties in Southeast Asia, especially for semiconductor and advanced manufacturing companies. That effort eventually resulted in the first Dutch pavilion at the Southeast Asia Semicon fair and in a Memorandum of Understanding between BOM and the EDB. Van Dijk described that agreement as a framework “to see how we can strengthen the economic relationship, share R&D, share talent, travel to Singapore, Singapore traveling to Brainport, and see how we can strengthen those ties.”

Main government gateway

Kong’s remarks showed why Singapore sees the relationship in much the same way.

He offered a concise history of the EDB, founded in 1961 to drive Singapore’s industrial development and reduce unemployment. Today, the organization helps shape sectors that together account for around 40% of Singapore’s GDP, while also serving as the main government gateway for foreign companies. “We are actually the window, and the government agency directly fronting and interacting with all foreign companies in Singapore,” he said. “We are also a one-stop agency.”

The connection with the Netherlands, he noted, is much older than the recent MoU. “Philips was one of the very early believers and investors in Singapore,” he said, recalling how the Dutch company once produced transistor radios and irons there. Over time, that relationship deepened into a broader semiconductor ecosystem that includes ASM, ASML and precision engineering suppliers.

Today, Singapore sees itself not as a peripheral player, but as a serious semiconductor hub. “Singapore itself, as just a very small city and country, has almost the same amount of wafer fab capacity as the entirety of Europe,” Kong said. He added: “Per week, we export about 1 billion dollars or more for semiconductors globally.” The country also produces “more than 10 billion US dollars worth of semiconductor equipment” and hosts “a large supplier base of precision engineering companies.”

That industrial depth is precisely what makes collaboration with Brainport more than symbolic. Kong made clear that semiconductors are only the beginning. Referring to the MoU, he said: “We have mentioned our collaboration in semiconductors that we are working together on.” But then he broadened the picture: “In the next phase of growth,” he said, Singapore also wants to work with the Dutch ecosystem in medtech, photonics and AI.

Silicon photonics

His examples were concrete. “In the area of photonics, we have invested quite heavily in silicon photonics as well in Singapore,” he said. “In the area of AI, this is also something that we want to do and collaborate on as well.” That growing AI presence includes major global names. “I was just in London yesterday, I met up with Google DeepMind as well. OpenAI has also set up its future presence there,” he said.

For Kong, the strategic direction was unmistakable: “There are many multiple areas that we are looking for growth into and looking at potential suppliers from the BOM region.”

Wayne Allan then placed the partnership in the broader logic of ASML and of global industrial strategy. His key point was that Brainport should not confuse strength with self-sufficiency. Instead, companies should ask where activities create the most value. “What we do here is focused and delivers the value and really leverages the strength of the region,” Allan said. “And where we can move stuff to another location and gain the value from that location where they might have advantages, we should do that as well.”

Aligned regions

In his view, Singapore and Brainport are aligned precisely because both regions understand the importance of focus. “Singapore is very focused on understanding which industries they want to play in and which ones they’re not interested in, and they’re very selective,” he said. BOM’s approach resonated with him for the same reason. “I very much like what you had to say today about BOM and focus,” Allan told Van Dijk. “I think the Brainport region is about focus. It’s about expanding the ecosystem in areas where the Brainport region can be the best.”

That is why he did not present Asian expansion as a threat to Eindhoven. Quite the opposite. “We should actually see this as a collaboration and align forces,” he said. A global footprint, in his view, sharpens the region rather than weakens it. “Each region has its strengths,” Allan said. “And I think leveraging off of that global footprint is really something that I think we should do out of the Brainport region as well.”

The geopolitical context gave the argument extra urgency. Allan was blunt about the uncertainty companies now face. “It’s difficult to forecast exactly what’s going to happen in geopolitics,” he said. But one lesson is already clear: “Having a global footprint is also critical because you’re more robust to these changes.” He mentioned tariffs, currency shifts, export restrictions, and the growing push for technological autonomy. “Being globally diverse allows you to manage that more effectively,” he said.

Diversification

Kong made a similar case from Singapore’s side. Diversification, he argued, is no longer optional. “For many companies and even countries, that is a strategy that we will have to undertake as we look at a more volatile world, a more uncertain world,” he said. One reason Singapore values the ASML relationship, he added, is that it encourages suppliers not to depend too heavily on one customer or one geography. “If you are just purely looking at one major customer or one major country for the relationship, I think at some point we are set perhaps in a difficult problem.”

The panel also touched on a delicate issue: whether this partnership will really work in both directions. Van Dijk welcomed Dutch companies establishing a stronger footprint in Singapore or Malaysia, especially when that helps them support customers and spread risk. “In itself, I think it’s a good thing,” she said. But she also insisted on reciprocity. “It only works when there’s reciprocal relationship,” she said. “It would also be interesting to see more companies to look into our campuses and see for themselves whether that’s an interesting place to visit and establish themselves.”

Kong agreed immediately. “I think that collaboration should be something that we do on both ways.” That means not just Dutch suppliers moving into Asia, but also Asian companies, suppliers and researchers building connections back into Brabant. “Those suppliers can also come into the Brabant region,” he said.

Ultimately, the panel session was about building a corridor between two innovation regions that are similar enough to understand each other and different enough to be useful to each other. Van Dijk summed up BOM’s position in three messages: diversify, act, and internationalize. “Put your money where your mouth is,” she said. Kong stressed that Singapore “works actually in partnership.” Allan’s appeal to the audience was equally direct: “Proactively look for opportunities to expand your presence globally, because I think that’s important as well.”