SINGAPORE AMBITION AS PHARMA RESEARCH CENTER

Speaking at the opening of a new S$100 million ($62.5 million) pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Jurong, Singapore's Minister for Health and Community Development, Yeo Cheow Tong, said the country aims to become a leading center for pharmaceuticals and drug research. Since 1982, the pharmaceutical industry in Singapore is reported to have grown by an annual compound growth rate of 15%, reaching an output value of S$1.4 billion last year.

The Singapore government will continue to emphasize and invest in developing skilled manpower, which is especially important to the capital-intensive pharmaceutical industry, he said. Mr Yeo also pointed out that the value-added per worker in the sector is around ten times higher than the average for the manufacturing sector as a whole.

Meantime, Singapore is competing with five other Asian countries to establish an international vaccines center in cooperation with the United Nations. While success in this aim would bring Singapore more international exposure, scientific knowledge and commercial spin-offs, the Singapore News notes that it would also be expected to pay for most of the investment involved, which would be between $25 and $30 million.