Singapore will pump almost 1.5 billion Singapore dollars (949 million US) into the biomedical sciences (BMS) sector as the city-state seeks to expand the industry which has become a new engine of growth.
The funding will go towards boosting Singapore's foundation in basic sciences and also to develop capabilities in translational and clinical research over the next five years, the National Research Foundation (NRF) said.
"Singapore needs to move up the capability ladder to maintain our premium, rather than get trapped in cost competition," said NRF chairman Tony Tan.
"The development of translational and clinical research capabilities is Singapore is critical if we are to realise the full value of our investments in the BMS initiative," he said late Saturday at an annual lecture organised by a local hospital.
Since its establishment in 2000, the biomedical sciences sector has become a vital part of Singapore's key manufacturing sector, generating 18 billion dollars worth of output in 2005. It accounts for five percent of gross domestic product.
The additional funding announced by Tan represents the second phase of development for the biomedical sciences sector over the next five years with more collaboration with the health ministry, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research said.
The agency will partner the health ministry to "encourage and enable the translation of our laboratory discoveries into clinically useful and commercially viable technologies and products that will advance human health," chairman Philip Yeo said.
Singapore invested billions of dollars into developing new growth engines for the economy with a strong focus on higher-value, research-intensive industries such as biomedical sciences as other Asian countries including China become favored sites for low-end manufacturing.
