Twenty-five years ago, the Singapore government announced its initiative of transforming Singapore into an Asian R&D hub, propelling the economy through science and technology. As of 2016, the country is, in many ways, succeeding in its goal, with a renowned reputation in water-processing technologies, academic institutions, electronics technologies and biomedical science. Singapore’s GDP is around SGD 410 billion ($304 billion), with over SGD 35 billion invested into domestic science and technology R&D since 2000. Earlier this year, SGD 19 billion was announced in funding for science R&D between 2016 and 2020, making Singapore one of the top global spenders on R&D, with 2.2% of its GDP allocated to R&D in 2014. Accelerating research in biomedical sciences is a key priority for the country, with Biopolis, a leading research institute in the nation, being responsible for many advancements. In 2014, R&D expenditure hit SGD 5.2 billion, a 33.3% increase from 2010, with the greatest push coming from small- and medium-sized companies, which spent a total of SGD 800 million.

Source: Nature