Singapore: Facts & Stats

ECONOMY

Industry:

Petroleum refining is a well-established industry in Singapore. After Rotterdam and Houston, Singapore is the world's third largest refining center. Production capacity from five refineries (capable of processing 40 different types of crude oil) was 1.3 million barrels per day. The petrochemical industry has grown rapidly as a direct result of Singapore's refinery capacity. Current a large project to reclaim seven islands to form a 12-square mile petrochemical complex on Jurong Island is in progress. A $200 million synthetic gas plant has recently been built on Jurong Island by the Messer Group of Germany and Texaco of the US. Also, Singapore's second naphtha cracking plant was launched in 2002 by the Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore and its partners, Phillips Petroleum, the Polyolefin Company, Hoechst and Seraya Chemicals. The Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore is a government-linked company (GLC). GLCs are majority government-owned but operate commercially, unlike traditional parastatals. GLCs account for more than 60% of Singapore's GDP. Industrial GLCs include Singapore Technologies (aerospace and electronics manufacturer); Keppel Corporation (oil drilling and related equipment manufacturer); Sembawang Corporation (construction and environmental engineering); Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, Singapore Telecom Petrochemical Corp. of Singapore, and Singapore Refining Corp.

Singapore is aggressively promoting and developing its biotechnology industry. Hundred of millions of dollars were invested into the sector to build up infrastructure, fund research and development and to recruit top international scientists to Singapore. Leading drug makers, such as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Pfizer and Merck & Co., have set up plants in Singapore. On 8 June 2006, GSK announced that it is investing another S$300 million to build another plant to produce pediatric vaccines, its first such facility in Asia. Pharmaceuticals now account for more than 16% of the country's manufacturing production.

Whilst praise has been given to efforts to promote the Singaporean biotechnology sector, the traditional tech sector remains larger and could benefit from similar public-private sector efforts to promote Singaporean high-tech companies. Whilst the government will not consider a "Buy Singaporean Tech" campaign, the spending power of the government and government-linked companies alone could impact sales and company value of Singaporean high-tech companies. Some believe more tax holidays for high-tech hardware companies and government loans for the more innovative ones will lead Singapore to surpass other tech centres in East Asia, although competing with inventors and product designers in Japan and South Korea may prove difficult due to Singapore's small base. This line of thinking suggests that the nation needs skilled foreign tech talent and should make it easier for those with the latest tech skills to come to Singapore from China and South Asia as well as from Japan, South Korea and Western countries.

Agriculture:

Agriculture, including fishery, is an insignificant part of Singapore's economy, accounting for just 0.2 percent of GDP and employing 0.2 percent of the workforce. Since the 19th century Singapore has been fully reliant on the import of foodstuffs, obtained from its neighbors. The country has a small fishing industry consisting of a small fleet and marine fish farms. There has been some interest in the greenhouse production of certain fruits and vegetables for domestic consumption, but it has not developed and remains small. Singapore does cultivate orchids for domestic and export markets.

In the late 1990s, Singapore businessmen expressed interest in biotechnology and genetically modified food production. The public outcry in Europe and the United States over genetically modified food has cooled this interest for the time being. Some private entrepreneurs invested in the agricultural sector in neighboring Malaysia and Thailand, aiming to export the products back to Singapore.

Research & Development:

In 2002, expenditure on R&D totaled $3,405 million, which was 2.19% of gross domestic product (GDP). Singapore aims to close the gap with developed countries by raising its R&D expenditure to the industrialized nations' average of 2% to 3% of GDP. The Government has committed a total of S$7 billion to the third National Science & Technology 2005 (S&T 2005) Plan. This details Singapore's intention to identify and build world-class science and technology capabilities in niche areas, and to strengthen private sector R&D initiatives.

The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and Johns Hopkins Singapore are some of Singapore's premier institutions spearheading research & development in areas such as biomedical sciences.

There are also several job opportunities at the A*STAR HQ, Institute of High Performance Computing Bioinformatics Institute, Institute for Infocomm Research, Biomedical Sciences Institutes, Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, Bioprocessing Technology Institute, Institute of Microelectronics, Centre for Molecular Medicine, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Data Storage Institute, Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, Exploit Technologies Pte Ltd, Singapore Immunology Network, Genome Institute of Singapore, Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, Institute of Bioengineering & Nanotechnology, Singapore Stem Cell Consortium and Institute of Chemical & Engineering Sciences.

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