HIDDEN_ADDENDA, PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (NATIONAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION)

PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (NATIONAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION): MR LIM HNG KIANG
Minister for Trade and Industry

The National Research Foundation (NRF) was set up as a department under the Prime Minister’s Office on 1st January 2006 to coordinate the research activities of different agencies within the larger national framework and to fund strategic R&D initiatives that would generate economic benefits for Singapore. The NRF has also appointed a Scientific Advisory Board comprising renowned scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs, who advise the NRF on key areas of R&D.

The Government has approved a funding stream of S$5 billion to enable the NRF to undertake its work from 2006 to 2010. The sustained funding is a strong signal of the Government’s commitment to invest in R&D as a driver for economic growth and as a foundation for our long-term competitiveness to ensure that Singapore maintains our edge in an increasingly knowledge-based and innovation-driven economy.

Seize opportunities and foster growth

The NRF’s aim is to fund areas where there is most potential for R&D breakthroughs that will yield economic benefit for Singapore, by generating industry growth and enterprise creation. The Research, Innovation and Enterprise Council (RIEC), chaired by the Prime Minister, has approved the allocation of S$1.4 billion from the National Research Fund to fund three strategic programmes - Environmental and Water Technologies, Interactive and Digital Media and Biomedical Sciences Phase II. The development of these three programmes is targeted to create 86,000 jobs and S$30 billion of value added by 2015. The NRF will continue to explore other emerging areas beyond these three programmes, and also look at long-term technology, social and demographic trends to identify new strategic areas for R&D investment.

Build a vibrant global city

To support Singapore’s ambition to become a vibrant, global city, the NRF aims to transform Singapore into a talent magnet for scientific and innovation excellence and build up a concentration of research talent to foster innovation and creativity. It is also important for the NRF to establish strong linkages with global institutions to enhance Singapore’s connectivity to other centres of research in the US and Europe, and accelerate our thrust towards an inventive, innovative and entrepreneurial economy. The RIEC thus endorsed the concept to establish a Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) in Singapore, and the proposal to set up the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) Centre as the first centre within the Campus.

The SMART Centre will be the largest international research endeavour that MIT has ever established. CREATE will also foster joint research programmes between the world’s top research universities and Singapore-based research institutions, and recruit young graduate and postdoctoral talent to nurture a cadre of extraordinary scientists, whose discoveries and innovations could generate new growth engines for Singapore.

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