This article explains Kobe City's establishment of a new overseas base in Singapore and its strategic significance.
New Base Opening Overview
Kobe City opened the "Kobe Singapore Business Office" as a new overseas base on August 27. The office is located within an incubation facility operated by NTUitive, a technology transfer and startup support organization under Nanyang Technological University (NTU), one of Singapore's national universities.
Location Features: The facility is located in "JTC LaunchPad @ one-north," a startup cluster area managed by JTC Corporation, a government-linked industrial infrastructure development agency, placing it at the center of an innovative ecosystem. According to NTUitive representatives, this is the first case of a Japanese local government establishing a base within this facility.
Base Functions and Management Structure
Main Operations: The office will conduct the following activities:
- Planning and execution of support for city companies
- Coordination with domestic and international support organizations
- Collection of local information
- Staffed permanently by one Kobe City official
Strategic Selection Rationale
Southeast Asia Strategy: According to Kobe City officials, "While considering base establishment in Southeast Asia, we focused on Singapore's advantages as a startup collaboration and innovation hub."
Industrial Compatibility: Particularly considering the compatibility with Kobe City's strengths in manufacturing and medical industries, they selected the incubation facility operated by NTU, one of the world's leading science and technology universities.
Regional Expansion Plans and Future Vision
Coverage Area Expansion: The Singapore office plans to cover not only Southeast Asia but also India and the Middle East regions, expanding Kobe City's influence across a broader Asia-Middle East sphere.
Collaborative System Development: Moving forward, they plan to collaborate with related organizations like JETRO to build a system capable of supporting enterprise attraction from Singapore and surrounding regions, as well as overseas expansion of local companies from both domestic and international perspectives.
Strengthening Exchange Infrastructure
Kobe Airport Internationalization: Since April 2025, international charter flights became possible at Kobe Airport, with plans to operate regular international flights around 2030, strengthening overseas exchange infrastructure in parallel. This creates a comprehensive internationalization strategy achieving synergistic effects between improved physical access and business base functions.
The article demonstrates that strategic overseas expansion by local governments, focusing on collaboration with innovation ecosystems, represents an effective new model for both enterprise attraction and local company support.