Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said Singapore can be a trusted node for science, technology and innovation amid global challenges, and its nimble regulatory environment allows innovators to develop prototypes quickly. He was speaking during a fireside chat on South-east Asia’s start-up ecosystem at the 11th Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition held at SMU on Monday (11 Sep). The event, organised by SMU’s Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, will be held until Thursday, and will feature 53 teams representing 1,100 universities from 77 countries. At the event's opening ceremony on Monday, the Protege Ventures Fund 2, a $500,000 fund by Singapore’s only student-led venture fund programme to provide student investors with capital to invest in early-stage technology start-ups founded by students or recent graduates, was also launched.