SINGAPORE - Companies working with the Agency for Science, Techology and Research (A*Star) invested more than $380 million in research and development (R&D) over the March to December period last year.

At its inaugural year in review on Thursday, the agency also said that it had set up 19 labs in collaboration with corporations - the highest number to date.

A*Star also worked with more large local enterprises - including DBS and Singtel - to set up research labs in various sectors over the year.

More than 60 per cent of the agency's industry projects in 2014 were collaborations with multinational firms and large local enterprises, while the remainder were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).