Singapore’s RIE2025 plan saw more business spending, more jobs created in R&D

SINGAPORE – Singapore is the pilot site for Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche’s global effort to accelerate precision medicine in the treatment of cancer because of its strong research and clinical capabilities, among other reasons.

Roche also partnered with local institutions such as the National Cancer Centre Singapore and the National University Cancer Institute, Singapore to extend comprehensive genomic profiling to more than 2,500 cancer patients.

Such cutting-edge research will give people here early access to the best treatments, and allow for better diagnoses and disease prevention, as well as more targeted treatments.

The collaborations with Roche were among the outcomes highlighted in the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 (RIE2025) Report, which was released on Aug 31 by the National Research Foundation (NRF).

Singapore also saw growth in business spending on R&D, more businesses getting into R&D, and more jobs created in R&D.

The report documents Singapore’s research, innovation and enterprise efforts and outcomes from April 2021 to March 2026, during which $28 billion was invested in public research and development funding.

It is the first such detailed document for an RIE plan.

“The RIE2025 Report shows how research and innovation have improved lives and secured Singapore’s future, from strengthening our Covid-19 response, to keeping Singaporeans healthy, building a more liveable city, and sharpening our companies’ competitiveness,” said NRF chairman Heng Swee Keat.

The report detailed how Singapore’s investments into research had helped create jobs and boosted economy, in addition to helping the Republic weather crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

Business expenditure on R&D in Singapore rose from $5.5 billion in 2018 to $9 billion in 2023, an increase of about 64 per cent. 

Businesses also invested more in research, spending $1.87 for every dollar spent by the Government on research in 2023, up from $1.48 in 2018. 

More firms executed R&D in Singapore, from 855 in 2018 to 1,030 in 2023 – an increase of about 20 per cent.

The value-added contribution of these firms grew more than 75 per cent, from $91.2 billion in 2018 to $161.2 billion in 2023. This is a measure of an economic activity’s contribution to gross domestic product.

Industry R&D jobs rose by 33 per cent from 24,466 in 2018 to 32,509 in 2023. More than 70 per cent of these jobs were taken up by Singapore citizens and permanent residents.

Semiconductor manufacturing – which employs a 34,000-strong workforce here – meanwhile grew about 60 per cent, from $101.3 billion in 2020 to $160.2 billion in 2025.

Singapore’s research capabilities grow

Apart from economic growth, the RIE2025 report noted that RIE capabilities had also contributed significantly to national strategic priorities, including Singapore’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change adaptation and sustainability. 

The country’s RIE capabilities also aided in its response to Covid-19 pandemic. For example, scientists here were among the first to successfully culture the SARS-CoV-2 virus, enabling research on transmission, therapeutics and vaccine development.

A*STAR researchers working with clinician-scientists at Tan Tock Seng Hospital were also able to develop a diagnostic test kit that was manufactured commercially just one month after the coronavirus genome sequence was shared internationally.

Modelling and simulation studies to improve wind flow in new residential precincts had resulted in a wind-flow increase of up to 15 per cent, while research into floating solar farms could potentially help the innovation generate up to 426 MWp of power – enough to power more than 100,000 HDB four-room flats for one year.

Roche’s collaborations in Singapore were also in line with RIE2025’s focus on human health and potential – one of four domains under the plan. This is to strengthen Singapore as a global hub in biomedtech and biomanufacturing, as well as employ genomics and artificial intelligence for the next generation of the country’s healthcare.

The number of medtech and digital health companies here grew to more than 400 in 2025, raising US$1.8 billion (S$2.29 billion) over the five-year period. Their medical technologies developed in the Republic are helping patients worldwide.

Among the companies are Us2.ai, an AI-powered echocardiography software company, which in 2021 received clearance by the US Food and Drug Administration for its fully automated solution to diagnose heart disease.

RIE investments had also translated into growth for Singapore’s research capabilities.

Research by scientists here was also commonly cited, with the country’s research citations 77 per cent above the global average in 2025.

Research institutions here – including the National University of Singapore, the Nanyang Technological University and A*STAR – are among the top 25 globally, the report said.

Deep tech start-ups have attracted at least $1 billion of venture funding annually over the past four years.

However, there has been a decline in the number of deals since 2023.

The report attributed this to macroeconomic uncertainty, higher borrowing costs and tighter financial conditions, mirroring global trends which led to the contraction of deal value across many start-up ecosystems, including in Singapore.

“Amidst this prolonged funding challenge, additional steps will be taken in RIE2030 to enhance access to capital for deep tech start-ups in Singapore. More public-private funding partnerships will be forged to ensure adequate capital for our pipeline of deep tech start-ups, particularly at the growth stage,” the report said.

The RIE2025 report was released along with the announcement of the full plan of RIE2030, which will have $37 billion from 2026 to 2030.

Singapore has invested heavily in research and development to achieve its economic and national strategic outcomes over the course of more than three decades. Since 1991 it has invested more than $125 billion in research and innovation, including $37 billion under RIE2030.