Government to invest $20b for R&D projects: Heng

They will create alliances to prototype new ideas within the coming months.

Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat has announced that they will pour $20b for research and development (R&D) in health and biomedical sciences, climate change and artificial intelligence, Heng said in the latest national broadcast series.

The government plans to push more people into addressing the world’s major challenges. The plan will be laid out in the next five year, Heng added.

“For a start, we will set up ‘Singapore Together Alliances for Action’. These Alliances will be led by industry, with each prototyping new ideas within the coming months, in areas such as robotics, e-commerce, environmental sustainability, digitalisation of supply chains and the built environment,” Heng stated.

The $20b investment is part of their initiative to raise Singapore’s economy following its circuit breaker measures. In the same vein, the government aims to find new links to smoothen the flow of goods, services, capital, data, ideas and talent, especially in connecting critical supply lines around the world.

“Singapore must always remain an open, trading nation. We are finished if we close up,” Heng said.

He also mentioned that they will continue investing in infrastructure, despite delays in some projects.