Strong Local Support Industry
Considering the increasing number of medtech companies preferring Singapore over other locations in Asia, we can only assume that Singapore has its unique attractiveness that sets it apart from others. One very distinct feature of Singapore is its very strong base of electronics and precision engineering industry built up since the 1980s. The precision engineering industry alone employs around 90,000 people and generates more than S$19.2 billion in manufacturing output in 2004.
This supporting industry offers strong technical backing for medtech companies, which includes:
• Precision engineering of a wide variety of materials such as plastic, rubber, silicon and metal
• Mold design and tooling services
• Designing, prototyping and building industrial automation equipment and systems and providing automation solutions
• Electronics components such as integrated circuits, connectors, optics, PCBAs, cables and wirings, power supplies, displays, resistors, capacitors, PC hardware, etc.
• Software development
There are more than 50 companies in precision engineering that offer contract manufacturing services to medtech companies, ranging from components building and sub-assemblies to final product OEM manufacturing. Aside from leveraging on the expertise of these local precision engineering companies, there is also a significant cost savings to medtech companies for using local contents. Conversely, according to the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star), the entrance of more medtech firms could also help diversify the precision engineering and electronics sector. Already these companies are upgrading their quality systems and skill sets in order to increase their value-add to medtech companies in Singapore and elsewhere.
Effectively growing Local Scientific Talents as well as Attracting Foreign Scientists
Clearly, the small size of Singapore has raised some concerns about the shortage of local talents trained in medtech to meet the growing demands in this sector. Nevertheless, if Singapore’s historical development is anything to follow by, the country has never failed to perform despite its limited resource. Singapore does recognize this shortcoming and has undertaken a pro-local and pro-foreign policy to address the manpower issue. The pro-local initiatives involve the active nurturing of local talents in medtech. The two leading universities in the country, National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), have both started their own bioengineering degree programs aimed at producing manpower cross trained in both engineering as well as biomedical sciences. Additionally, the EDB’s Biomedical Sciences Group also offers Training and Attachment Programs (TAP) in partnership with medtech companies to create positions for technicians and professionals to undergo onthe- job training in R&D, clinical research, and manufacturing practices locally or overseas. The pro-foreign approach complements the local talents through active international recruitment, which has already successfully attracted some of the world’s top scientists to the country to carve out their own niche and build links with the local research community.
Lastly, one also cannot ignore the fact that Singapore does have a substantial pool of existing English-speaking and well-trained engineers with diverse expertise in electronics, materials and software engineering that medtech companies can already tap into.
Constantly Encouraging Innovation
Singapore may not have a very long history of innovation, but since it decided to transform itself into a knowledge-based economy, the pace of innovation has been rapid. Strong initiatives both in the private and public sectors to promote innovation are in place. The EDB has the Proof of Concept Scheme (POC) and the Startup Enterprise Development Scheme (SEEDs) programs to help technologies find their way into the market. In the private sector, there are several ventures set up to incubate promising medtech companies. These activities suggest that Singapore is becoming an increasingly exciting environment for the development of innovative startups.
Comprehensive Infrastructure in place
Singapore built the Biopolis, Fusionopolis and the Tuas Biomedical Park dedicated to support the BMS cluster, including medtech. The Tuas Biomedical Park is primarily focused on manufacturing activities, while the Biopolis is built specifically for R&D activities. The two million square feet integrated R&D complex provides state-of-the art facilities for medtech companies near to research institutes and universities. Companies at the Biopolis can leverage on common facilities to lower R&D costs. These shared facilities include X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance, electron microscopy, DNA sequencing as well as sharedconference and teaching facilities.
As for general infrastructure support, Singapore offers world class logistics and supply chain management capabilities in Asia backed by international standard airport and seaport facilities.
Strong Intellectual Property (IP) Protection
Since 1997, Singapore has been consistently ranked number one by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) for IP protection in Asia. Singapore has a credible track record for protection of intellectual property rights (IPR). It has in place one of the most comprehensive frameworks for IP protection in Asia. This is reflective in an increase in the level of patenting activities in the country with a rise of 22% in filings and an increase of 62% in the number of patents over the previous year.
Attractive Tax and Financial Incentives
Singapore has in place various attractive financial incentives to lure investors. A foreign investor granted the preferred status is offered a range of attractive incentives that range from 5 – 10 years tax “holidays†to liberal exemptions for capital equipment and expatriate staff. In addition, the government is also relatively
liberal with grant funding.
In addition, Singapore has a well established financial sector that could provide medtech companies with plenty of venue to raise equity financing through venture capital or listing in the public market. The listing of LMA International on the Singapore Stock Exchange, a Netherlands incorporated company that makes airways devices for general anesthesia procedures, is an example of a recent successful IPO for a medtech company in Singapore.
Leverage on Quality Medical Expertise
Medtech companies have also leveraged on Singapore’s medical care and clinical excellence for product development. Singapore has state-of-the-art clinical centres with excellent reputation for quality medicine in a broad range of specialty areas including cardiology, gynaecology, orthopaedic surgery, oncology, neurosurgery and ophthalmology in the region.
This strong reputation for clinical excellence has led to many collaborations between medtech companies and clinical centres in the country. For instance, the National Heart Centre (NHC) have worked on the development of new devices such as novel drug eluting stents. NHC also conducts clinical trials for companies like J&J and Medtronic.
The Way Ahead
It may be too premature to start evaluating the success of Singapore’s medtech initiative. The sector is definitely growing rapidly at present due largely to government capital injection and foreign private investment. It may take several more years of development for the sector to reach critical mass in terms of number of researchers and firms before it could become self-sustaining.
However one thing is for sure, Singapore has made great strides to become Asia’s newest medtech hub. It has shown tremendous will to build up this sector by integrating biomedical sciences, including medtech into the foundation of its public policy, economic development and manpower training. With the continued government support, and increasingly enthusiastic private sector, Singapore has all the right ingredients to succeedand is well on its way to become the medtech hub of choice in the region.
Ivy Teh
