PM Wong outlines plan to keep S’pore a global innovation hub; growth areas include quantum tech
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Singapore is attracting some of the best companies, like quantum computing firm Quantinuum, which has established operations here.
PHOTO: QUANTINUUM
- Singapore will anchor global supply chains and target emerging growth areas like quantum technology and decarbonisation, aiming to shape these industries' development.
- The Republic committed $37 billion to research, innovation, and enterprise, a 32% increase, strategically focusing on key growth clusters.
- An early bet on quantum technology attracted quantum computing firm Quantinuum, making Singapore the first country outside the US to host its quantum computer by 2026.
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SINGAPORE - As part of Singapore’s refreshed economic strategy, the Republic will aim to continue anchoring critical segments of global supply chains in the city-state, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Feb 12.
To further this goal, Singapore has set aside $37 billion
PM Wong said emerging areas with potential for Singapore to build leadership include decarbonisation solutions and quantum technology
Singapore wants to be the place where activities with high knowledge content and strong spillovers take place, he added. This refers to economic activities that generate positive externalities for the rest of the economy, such as in technological advancement and skills development.
Beyond hosting firms in key growth clusters here, the goal is to shape how these industries develop and where they create value, said PM Wong, citing the semiconductor, aerospace and biomedical sciences industries as examples where Singapore’s investments have borne fruit.
“Technology is the critical enabler underpinning our strategy to build leadership in these clusters,” he said. “Singapore must be a place where frontier technologies are developed, tested and commercialised.”
The $37 billion figure, announced by Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong in December 2025, marks the Government’s largest injection for such plans since 1991.
The new tranche is a 32 per cent increase from the $28 billion fund for the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2025 plan, and puts Singapore on a par with other small advanced economies such as Sweden and Denmark.
As with previous years, the investment amounts to about 1 per cent of Singapore’s gross domestic product annually.
In absolute dollars, Singapore’s public research and development spending will always be modest compared with the sums deployed by much larger economies. That is why Singapore’s investments must be disciplined, focused and strategic, directed at areas where the Republic has clear strengths and can make a real difference, said PM Wong.
He cited quantum technology, where Singapore made “an early and deliberate bet”.
In 2007, the Republic set up the National University of Singapore’s Centre for Quantum Technologies when much research in the field was still theoretical. Today, quantum computing is moving rapidly from theory to reality, with far-reaching implications across many fields, said PM Wong.
Amid this landscape, Singapore is attracting some of the best companies, like quantum computing firm Quantinuum, which has established operations here and will host its latest quantum computer in the Republic.
This will make Singapore the first country outside of the United States to host Quantinuum’s most powerful computer, with the system’s installation expected to finish in 2026.
Said PM Wong: “This will give our researchers and companies, including a few home-grown start-ups, direct access to cutting-edge quantum compute and opportunities to work on meaningful projects.”
Singapore is also attracting top global talent and partnerships, which include a quantum computing start-up, co-founded by US professor and Nobel laureate John Martinis, that is collaborating with local researchers.
“They are developing novel components to advance the performance of quantum computers, using state-of-the-art semiconductor processes,” PM Wong said.
“They chose Singapore because of the unique combination of our strengths in advanced manufacturing, semiconductors and frontier quantum research.”
By building leadership in key areas of growth, Singapore can shape where innovation and value creation take place, which will create more good jobs and better opportunities for Singaporeans, said PM Wong.
The lion’s share of funding for the Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2030 plan – at 29 per cent, or $10.8 billion – will be pumped into four domains, which remain unchanged from its previous iteration.
They are: human health and potential; manufacturing, trade and connectivity; urban solutions and sustainability; and smart nation and the digital economy.
