Singapore has announced substantial new funding to support ongoing growth of its biomedical sciences sector.
An additional S$790m (NZ$804m), spread across two new funds, is being injected into a broad range of programmes with initiatives that address unmet medical needs likely to be a high priority.
Singapore is positioning itself to become an Asian hub for biomedical sciences, a strategy which appears to be gaining traction. The island state’s biomedical manufacturing sector grew by 22 per cent in the first nine months of 2011 and is viewed as an important driver of overall economic growth.
NZTE’s Trade Commissioner in Singapore Ziena Jalil says there is plenty of potential for New Zealand partners to share in the expansion.
“Singapore is open to innovation alliances with external partners. It’s an ideal opportunity to connect smart New Zealand science and research to funding that can take it to the next level.”
More than two-thirds of the new funding will sit in an open, collaborative fund that is designed to foster closer links between basic science and clinical research groups. That will include research programmes involving multi institutions into specific diseases, grants for small-scale collaborations between scientists and clinicians, and also individual researchers.
There will be a strong focus on research that has practical applications and/or commercialisation potential.
The remainder of the money is tagged for improving support for public researchers wanting to work with industry to commercialise projects.
“Singapore has deep research capabilities and experience in working across a range of disciplines and agencies to bring projects to fruition. It should be on the radar of New Zealand organisations in the biomedical sciences sector,” says Ms Jalil.
Last year, Singapore released a Research, Innovation and Enterprise plan which allocates spending of $S16.1 billion (NZ$16.4 billion) on research and development over the next four years. Around $3.7 billion (NZ$3.76 billion) of that is going into the biomedeical sector.
Singapore is expected to finish the year with overall GDP growth of 5 percent.
To find out more about opportunities in biomedical sciences in Singapore, contact Ziena.jalil@nzte.govt.nz
