I thought I will take a break until CNY, but someone delivered the 2007 Budget Speech in Parliament this afternoon. In part of his speech, Minister emphasised the government's focus to invest in R&D to build up new capabilities that will help drive our economy over the long-term.
Some of his speech is enclosed for your information. Full Text and Webcast can be found here: http://www.singaporebudget.gov.sg/budget_2007/index.html
Investing in R&D
Our second area of focus is to invest in R&D, to build up new capabilities that will help drive our economy over the long-term. We plan to invest 3% of our GDP on R&D annually by 2010 up from 2.4% in 2005.
This is a major commitment, both in terms of resources and talent. We are investing large sums of money. We are also gathering many very able people in the biomedical sciences and other fields of science and technology. They include Singaporeans who are doing post-graduate studies and embarking on careers in R&D, as well as globally renowned researchers who have uprooted themselves to come to Singapore because they know we are serious in our plans and ambitions, and want to work with us on this enterprise. On top of that, we are attracting world-class corporate R&D labs and grooming local R&D firms.
We do not expect short-term returns. This is a long-term investment, and clearly there are risks. We cannot be sure of success, and even if we succeed, many of the economic benefits are likely to be indirect. But the Government had considered this carefully, and decided that this was an investment we had to make for Singapore’s future. Over time, we will build up a critical mass of top-rate researchers in Singapore, who will create new intellectual property in our research institutes, universities and hospitals, and will bring in new, technology-driven activities which will spin off benefits to the rest of the economy. Our investment in R&D is critical, for Singapore to be a leading Asian hub for high-value, knowledge-based industries, even as Beijing, Bangalore and other cities catch up.
Since embarking on this endeavour in the bio-medical sciences and other areas of R&D that we are engaged in, we have made significant progress. But we are still on the early legs of a long journey. Other developed nations, including small ones like Switzerland and Sweden, have taken decades to get to where they are today. We need to persevere in our efforts, focusing our limited resources on areas in which Singapore can make an impact. That is the framework within which the Research Innovation and Enterprise Council (RIEC) pursues Singapore’s R&D strategies, and it will continue to guide us as we go forward.
It is too early to evaluate the results of our R&D initiatives. But from MOF’s perspective, I am satisfied that this is a good use of public funds. Hence, I will inject another $500 million into the National Research Fund that was established last year. Along with other R&D related expenditure in A*Star, MOH, MOE and other economic agencies, we expect a total of $2 billion of government expenditure invested in R&D for this year. These will go towards continuing the applied and academic research in the public research institutes, universities and hospitals.
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