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Singapore has publicly stated ambitions to be the world’s leading fintech and innovation hub. It is also one of the biggest and busiest global trade centers with many large, multinational companies basing their regional treasury offices in the country. For these reasons, and to support our rapidly-growing customer base across Asia-Pacific markets – including Standard Chartered, a Ripple investor, member of the RippleNet Advisory Board, and early adopter of blockchain technology to power payments – we are excited to announce we have opened a new office in Singapore.

The World Economic Forum rates Singapore as the world’s most open and trade-friendly economy, with competitive institutions, policies, infrastructure and services to encourage the free flow of products and services. Impressively, Singapore’s trade stands at 2.7 times its GDP; it is on track to become the biggest commodity trading hub worldwide; and it is the leading trading hub for Asian currencies in the banking industry.

Singapore’s trade flows – worth about $550 billion annually1 and projected to grow significantly – coupled with its aspirations to become the leading fintech center, are set to drive the demand for more efficient payments. We are already seeing huge demand for our enterprise blockchain payments solution from local banks, as well as payment providers and corporates across the region more broadly.

Dilip Rao, managing director for Ripple APAC, said, “Singapore is leading the charge when it comes to streamlining money exchange, remittance and payments systems. In fact, one of the key themes raised during the Prime Minister’s recent National Day Rally was the importance of digitizing payments in the country’s aim to become a Smart Nation.

“Our new office can support this ambition and equally brings us closer to our customer base across the Asia-Pacific region, enabling banks, payment providers and corporates to make instant payments into-and-out of the country using blockchain. As a leading trade and fintech hub, Singapore offers Ripple leverage in the region as we expand our global footprint.”

To learn more about professional opportunities available in Ripple’s new Singapore office, please visit our careers page, and stay tuned for more information about CEO Brad Garlinghouse’s upcoming keynote at the Singapore FinTech Festival in November.

1 Figures for 2015