Yong Jun Yuan · · 2 min readSG Budget 2025: $2.2b earmarked for National Productivity Fund
According to Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, the country must set aside resources to maximize its competitive strengths if it hopes to anchor more high-quality investments.
In his Budget 2025 speech, Wong announced that the government will top up the National Productivity Fund – which was established in 2010 to support enterprises – with S$3 billion (US$2.2 billion).
He noted that over the last two decades, the government has invested about 1% of the nation’s gross domestic product in research and development (R&D) each year.
“These investments have borne fruit,” he said. “For example, our biotech ecosystem would not be where it is today without Biopolis, which we built more than 20 years ago.”
Within the biotech and semiconductor sectors, the government will also invest about US$745 million on research infrastructure as well as develop a new national semiconductor R&D fabrication facility.
“This will provide industry-grade tools for researchers and industry partners to prototype and test new semiconductor innovations,” said Wong.
In addition, companies will receive full tax deductions for payments made under approved cost-sharing agreements for innovation activities, which will take effect on February 19. The Economic Development Board will provide further details by the second quarter of this year.
See also: Chips stacked against SEA? New rules may hinder AI boom in region
Currency converted from Singapore dollar to US dollar: US$1 = S$1.34.
This story was republished with permission from The Business Times. It was moderately edited to reflect Tech in Asia’s editorial guidelines.
Editing by Jaclyn Tiu
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