By Ong Boon Kiat

(SINGAPORE) The Republic's research and development (R&D) intensity has grown to match that of powerhouse economies such as the US and Germany.

According to a study released yesterday, dubbed the National Survey of R&D in Singapore, the public and private sectors collectively spent a record $6.3 billion on R&D activities in Singapore last year - equivalent to around 2.6 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).

In 2006, the nation's overall expenditure on R&D was $5 billion, or around 2.3 per cent of GDP.

This annual study, conducted by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star), also found that Singapore's research talent base has expanded from around 25,000 researchers in 2006 to around 27,300 last year.

'The year 2007 has been exceptional. At 26.5 per cent, the growth of gross domestic expenditure on R&D in 2007 significantly outpaced previous years' growth,' said A*Star managing director Yena Lim.

R&D spending here last year swelled at a record 26.5 per cent on a year-on-year basis, a marked jump from the 9.3 per cent year-on-year increase in 2006.

A*Star noted that Singapore, with a gross domestic expenditure on R&D at 2.6 per cent of GDP in 2007, is ahead of Germany (2.5 per cent in 2006) and approaching the US (2.7 per cent in 2007) in terms of R&D intensity.

On this measure, it is also ahead of the average mark collated in 2006 (2.3 per cent) among countries from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This global organisation comprises some 30 member countries, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Japan, South Korea, the UK and the US.

Ahead of Singapore are Sweden (3.6 per cent in 2007), Japan (3.4 per cent in 2006) and Korea (3.2 per cent in 2006.)

According to A*Star, year-on-year R&D spending grew faster among the private sector firms than public sector ones in Singapore last year.

Private sector R&D expenditure increased by 28.6 per cent, from $3.29 billion in 2006 to $4.24 billion in 2007. Public sector R&D spending rose by 22.6 per cent, from $1.72 billion in 2006 to $2.1 billion in 2007. The lion's share of the total private sector R&D spending was in the manufacturing sector.

A rare bucking of the trend was the fall in the number of reported patent applications last year - 1,739 compared with 1,886 in 2006. But while 2007 has been an unprecedented year of boom for R&D spending, this year could be less bullish, according to Ms Lim.

'The results are based on 2007 company data. Given the economic backdrop for 2008, there will be an impact on 2008 results,' she said. 'But we must maintain a long-term view for R&D, which is essential for building underlying capabilities and will ensure we are in good position to take full advantage of the upturn when it comes.'

More than 1,000 organisations took part in the 2007 National R&D survey.

This article was first published in The Business Times on Dec 24, 2008.

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