Singapore and Egypt have announced plans to deepen bilateral relations in digital transformation following significant progress in their respective initiatives.
Hassan El-Khatib, Egypt’s investment and foreign trade minister, met with Singaporean president Tharman Shanmugaratnam during the recent Egypt-Singapore Business Forum to explore new investment opportunities and exchange ideas centered on digitalization.
Six agreements and MOUs were signed at the forum, covering fields such as technical and vocational education and training, capacity-building in international arbitration and public policy education.
Singapore and Egypt prioritize digital transformation
El-Khatib said that the bilateral relationship between the two countries holds untapped strategic potential beyond existing achievements. He emphasized that strengthening cooperation in areas such as digital transformation, renewable energy and port development could bring mutual benefits.
El-Khatib also highlighted a variety of promising investment opportunities within the Suez Canal Economic Zone, presenting it as a key regional hub linking Asia, Africa and Europe, and positioning it as a strategic platform for global trade and logistics.
President Shanmugaratnam praised Egypt’s progress in modernizing its infrastructure and advancing bold economic reforms, describing the country as a valuable partner in developing regional and global value chains. He reaffirmed Singapore’s interest in deepening collaboration in technical education, vocational training, port management and technology transfer, with a particular focus on the logistics sector.
At the close of the meeting, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to elevating Egypt-Singapore relations into a comprehensive strategic partnership built on complementary strengths. They agreed to channel the current political momentum into long-term, practical initiatives, positioning both countries as regional hubs for innovation and logistics and as a model for effective international cooperation in a rapidly changing global landscape.
Register for All Access: Revolution in Process Intelligence APAC 2025!
APAC leads the way in digital transformation
APAC businesses are leading the way in digital transformation, outpacing global peers in embracing digital tools.
The Zoho Workplace Digital Transformation Survey 2025 found that the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is ahead in several key areas – outperforming other regions in artificial intelligence (AI) adoption and structured collaboration processes.
The study, conducted across multiple industries and organization sizes, also revealed that APAC’s digital transformation maturity (66.35 percent) overtakes that of developed nations and the global average (62.3 percent).
More than three-quarters (76 percent) of APAC businesses fall into advanced digital transformation maturity levels (Level 3 and above), indicating widespread adoption of sophisticated tools and processes that drive workplace effectiveness and efficiency.
APAC as a region is expected to reach an optimized maturity state in the next 10 years, with continued investment in the digital workplace, according to the survey.
APAC businesses are at the forefront of AI adoption. AI-enhanced search and knowledge retrieval has an average adoption rate of 54 percent, significantly higher than other regions, Zoho found. What’s more, AI-powered communication tools see strong uptake (50 percent), particularly in technology (56 percent) and retail (56 percent).
Predictive analytics (40 percent) and workflow automation (43 percent) are also widely adopted, reinforcing APAC’s digital transformation leadership.
Beware digital transformation risks
Digital transformation remains central to business improvement and innovation. However, organizations must consider a number of digital transformation risks that threaten to derail strategies.
Here are 10 common digital transformation pitfalls to be aware of.
- Lack of direction
- Unclear business value
- Insufficient leadership
- The technology hype
- Resistance to change
- Digital and data immaturity
- Overlooking data security and privacy
- Talent shortages and staff turnover
- Legacy systems and processes
- Neglecting customer experience