Singapore has much to celebrate this year with SG60, but we must be aware of the rapidly changing global landscape and invest in creating our future, said Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat on Thursday (Feb 27).
Speaking in support of Budget 2025 in Parliament, he emphasised the need to “double down on our investments in Research, Innovation, and Enterprise (RIE)”, in order to improve lives and to keep Singapore competitive.
According to Heng, science, technology and innovation are advancing at an accelerated pace, given the example of artificial intelligence (AI) and how it has disrupted the global tech landscape.
Investing in RIE will not only benefit Singapore’s economic development, but also benefit Singaporeans, directly and indirectly.
Heng raised several examples of how AI can support Singapore’s declining workforce, personalise students’ learning and optimise medical treatments.
Singapore invests around one per cent of its gross domestic product annually to support RIE activities, and has committed $28 billion to the current RIE 2025 plan.
These investments have supported economic growth, created good jobs, and improved lives of Singaporeans, which has been reflected in the Republic’s strong standings in global entrepreneurship and research rankings.
Heng also shared two major new initiatives that will be part of RIE2030 — applied AI and the development of new large-scale, cross-cutting R&D programmes.
In particular, he highlighted the need to collaborate with global partners, citing how Singapore’s investment in RIE is only “a small fraction of global R&D spending”, unlike the US and China, who have spent US$923 billion (S$1.24 trillion) and US$812 billion in one year respectively.
“We must continue to position Singapore as a trusted and neutral Global-Asia node of technology, innovation and enterprise, where like-minded partners come together to collaborate,” Heng concluded.
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