Goals and Priorities Set under Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 Plan

Date: For Parliament Sitting on 15 February 2022

Title: Goals and Priorities Set under Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 Plan

MPs Speaking: Ms Foo Mee Har, Mr Heng Swee Keat

QUESTION: Ms Foo Mee Har asked the Prime Minister (a) what are the goals and priorities set under the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 Plan (RIE2025); and (b) how investment in R&D is expected to translate into commercial applications to benefit Singapore companies and workers.

RESPONSE: Mr Heng Swee Keat (for the Prime Minister): The Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2025 Plan sets out the Government’s RIE plans from 2021 to 2025. We have allocated a total of S$25 billion for the RIE2025 Plan, which sustains our investment in RIE at about 1% of our GDP, similar to our commitment to RIE2020 and earlier research plans.

The RIE2025 Plan has three focus areas.

First, RIE2025 aims to address a broader spectrum of national needs and to better drive economic growth post-pandemic. In RIE2020, we organised our efforts around four domains to focus our efforts in core areas, such as manufacturing and healthcare. However, as science and technology become more pervasive, we have refreshed the scope of the four RIE domains as follows.

The Manufacturing, Trade and Connectivity domain has broadened its scope beyond manufacturing to raise capabilities in the trade and connectivity sectors, for example, aviation, sea transport, logistics.

The Human Health and Potential domain has expanded beyond Human Health to include Human Potential, with a focus on enhancing development during pregnancy and early childhood, augmenting learning outcomes and fostering healthy and meaningful longevity.

The Urban Solutions and Sustainability domain will address new challenges in sustainability and resilience, including climate change, decarbonisation, healthy cities and transformation of our built environment.

The Smart Nation and Digital Economy domain will further our strengths in strategic technologies to enhance our resilience and anchor Singapore’s position as a trusted digital innovation hub.

Second, RIE2025 will enrich our scientific base, by sustaining our support for basic research at about one-third of the overall budget.

Our consistent investments in basic research have allowed Singapore to develop a base of scientific capabilities and intellectual property that we can now draw on. As science and technology are evolving rapidly, the National Research Foundation (NRF) will introduce mechanisms to systematically review our basic science capabilities and identify potential peaks of excellence that will differentiate Singapore internationally.

RIE2025 also emphasises talent by building a robust base of research scientists and engineers, such as through our NRF Fellowship and Investigatorship schemes which will support both promising young scientists and established experts to pursue groundbreaking research in Singapore. In addition, the Returning Singapore Scientist Scheme will continue to attract overseas-based Singaporean research leaders home to contribute to Singapore’s pursuit of scientific excellence.

Third, RIE2025 will strengthen our support for companies and scale up Innovation & Enterprise (I&E) platforms to drive tech translation and accelerate enterprise innovation that benefits our companies and workers.

For instance, our investment in the Diagnostics Development (DxD) Hub supported development and productisation of the Fortitude test kit for COVID-19. The Fortitude test kit has been deployed in over 45 countries to date, with over seven million kits sold.

Going forward, we will support I&E platforms to expand into adjacent areas with high growth potential, for example, from diagnostics to medtech. Where necessary, we will also establish new platforms to tap on Singapore’s R&D strengths and bridge ecosystem gaps.

Beyond I&E platforms, we will also customise our support for different enterprise segments, such as startups, Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises.

For local startups, our approach has been to help groom them to translate deeptech research into commercially-viable products and services and connect them to international partners and venture capitalists who can help them grow and scale. We have built up a thriving startup ecosystem in Singapore. Startups in Singapore raised S$11.2 billion during the first nine months of 2021, more than double the S$5.5 billion raised in the whole of 2020, and up from S$8.5 billion in 2019. In 2021, Singapore also saw a bumper crop of 11 new Singapore-based unicorn startups, that is, startups with a valuation exceeding US$1 billion.

With regard to SMEs, we support their efforts to leverage public R&D and innovation capabilities to build new products and solutions, as well as strengthen their own innovation capabilities and capacities. This is achieved through various initiatives, such as T-Up, Centres of Innovation and the Innovation Advisors Programme. These initiatives provide our SMEs with critical enablers necessary for their growth:

(a) T-Up helps to address SMEs’ deep-tech talent gap by seconding research scientists and engineers to these companies;

(b) Centres of Innovation offer SMEs with technology consultancy and access to technical equipment; and

(c) Innovation Advisors impart industry-relevant tech advice and business networks to help SMEs innovate, secure new customers and grow their businesses.

As for large enterprises, we want to encourage them to invest in R&D and create globally leading products, services and businesses out of Singapore. This could be through research collaborations with our public research performers, such as the Agency for Science, Technology & Research (A*STAR) research institutes and Institutes of Higher Learning, as well as the establishment of corporate laboratories. Large enterprises can also explore and develop new business ventures together with the Economic Development Board (EDB) New Ventures team.

Our R&D investments have also benefited Singapore workers by giving them new opportunities to upskill and work in deeptech sectors. For instance, the Industrial Postgraduate Programme co-sponsors locals to pursue full-time postgraduate studies while undertaking an industrial R&D project at a Singapore-based company. This form of training allows trainees to develop a stronger appreciation for the commercial applications of research, and develops more "industry-ready" postgraduates.

(Question No. 1564 in Notice Paper No. 960 of 2022)