Singapore is ramping up efforts to expand its biopharma and med tech manufacturing sector, aiming for 3–4% annual growth over the next decade while maintaining manufacturing at 20% of GDP.
Singapore’s Manufacturing Ambition
The city-state currently produces $38 billion worth of products globally and plans to boost output through three strategies: enhancing productivity, attracting investments, and commercializing new technologies.
“We will work with our existing base of companies to improve their productivity by up to 50% through the introduction of new technologies and digitization,” Wan Yee Goh, Senior Vice President and Head Healthcare at the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), told BackgroundBriefing.news.
Major Investments and Innovation
A key milestone is AstraZeneca’s $1.5 billion end-to-end drug manufacturing facility, its first such plant worldwide. Similarly, companies like GSK are adopting advanced processes such as inline monitoring to cut manpower needs by 20%.
Talent at the Core
To support this growth, EDB is focusing on talent development. Singapore plans to tap its 200,000 overseas Singaporeans—about 4% of the population—while also nurturing local talent through overseas training programs and partnerships with universities for advanced technical roles.
Long-Term Goal
Singapore aims to sustain manufacturing at 20% of GDP and ensure the sector remains a key economic pillar.
About the speaker:
Wan Yee Goh
Senior Vice President and Head Healthcare
Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB)
Wan Yee Goh, Senior Vice President and Head Healthcare at the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), spearheads the agency’s strategic direction within the critical healthcare sector. With a remarkable 19-year career at the EDB, Goh has played a significant role in fostering economic growth and development in Singapore.
She assumed her current leadership position in April 2020, following key roles as Executive Director for Human Capital and Healthcare & Wellness, showcasing her comprehensive expertise in talent and sector development. Her earlier career also included experience in biomedical sciences and medical technology investments, building on her Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical from the National University of Singapore.
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5W1H summary:
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| What | 1. Grow biopharma and med tech output 2. Maintain manufacturing at 20% GDP 3. Achieve 3–4% annual growth |
| How | 1. Boost productivity by 50% 2. Attract new global investments 3. Commercialize research technologies |
| Why | 1. Strengthen economic resilience 2. Support long-term GDP growth 3. Keep Singapore competitive globally |
| Who | 1. Singapore Economic Development Board 2. Wan Yee Goh, EDB SVP 3. Companies like AstraZeneca, GSK |
| Where | 1. Singapore manufacturing facilities 2. Research institutes in Singapore 3. Overseas company sites for training |
| When | 1. Over next 5–10 years 2. AstraZeneca facility announced recently 3. Talent programs ongoing |
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. What is Singapore’s growth target for biopharma and med tech manufacturing?
Singapore aims for 3–4% annual growth in these sectors over the next 5–10 years.
2. How will Singapore achieve this manufacturing growth?
Through productivity improvements, attracting new investments, and commercializing research technologies.
3. What major investment has been announced recently?
AstraZeneca will build a \$1.5 billion end-to-end drug manufacturing facility in Singapore.
4. How is EDB addressing the talent challenge?
By tapping 200,000 overseas Singaporeans, training local talent abroad, and partnering with universities for advanced roles.
5. Why is manufacturing important to Singapore’s economy?
Singapore plans to keep manufacturing at 20% of GDP to ensure economic stability and competitiveness.
Transcript of the interview:
We are most focused on growing our manufacturing output in Singapore right now for the biopharma as well as the med tech sector. As you know, Singapore produces about 38 billion dollars of products globally today and we’re looking to grow it at about 3 to 4% over the next 5 to 10 years.
We will do so in three ways.
- First is to work with our existing base of companies to improve their productivity by up to 50% through the introduction of new technologies and digitization. This allows them to bring new products into the existing factories in Singapore.
- Secondly, we will attract new investments into Singapore. A very good example is AstraZeneca’s $1.5 billion new end-to-end drug manufacturing facility in Singapore. It’s their first such facility in any part of the world. So it makes us very proud to be able to host that in Singapore.
- Thirdly would be to collaborate and work with research institutes to commercialize new technologies that companies can adopt.
One example is GSK who has incorporated an inline monitoring process so that they can reduce the manpower they use in the facility by about 20%.
And what does EDB do to help these companies grow their manufacturing base?
Companies have shared with us that talent is front and center in their manufacturing operations. So we will do so by supporting the companies in attracting talent into their facilities.
One is of course local talent. But what’s interesting is that Singapore actually has about 200,000 Singaporeans based overseas and we are able to connect with these Singaporeans.
This is about 4% of our population and to bring them back into Singapore to work in the companies. Secondly we will look at growing local talent and this we will do in two different ways.
One is fresh talent. We have support schemes to send these fresh talent overseas to our company’s facilities so that they learn the new technology and they bring that back into Singapore.
Secondly, also connecting them with the universities so that companies can train and hire masters and PhD talent for the more complex and higher technical areas of work.
And ultimately what KPIs are you working to? Where are you hoping this will all go to?
We’re looking at growing our GDP at 3 to 4% over the next five to 10 years and hence I had mentioned earlier this desire to grow the pharma manufacturing sector at that same rate as well.
Singapore intends to keep manufacturing at 20% of our GDP for the long term. That is why manufacturing remains important to us.