Page 12 - Education Change and Economic Development: The Case of Singapore Dr. Goh Chor Boon National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University

72 ᐿ࿲ၾආӉj઺ԃٙɢඎ

11
transition, in the words of Lee Kuan Yew, “from Third World to First”. In the
new millennium, the Singapore economy shifted towards an innovation-driven
economy - a more broad-based, dynamic technological strategy that does not
depend solely on the importation and assimilation of Western technologies.

Economic growth hinges strongly on two key components: (a) innovations
through Research and Development (R&D) and (b) the creation of digitized
infrastructure. The Government introduced initiatives to promote innovations

and entrepreneurship. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were challenged
to develop indigenous capabilities for creative innovations of products and
processes, to develop new ideas and business models, tap new export markets
and broaden their economic base. The drive towards innovation was supported
12
by an advanced technological infrastructure and generous funding for R&D –
that is, towards the creation of a “national innovation system”. The Agency for

Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) was formed in January 2002 with
the primary mission to advance the economy and improve lives by growing the
knowledge-intensive biomedical, research, scientific and engineering fields.
The agency supports R&D that is aligned to areas of competitive advantage

and national needs for Singapore. These span the four technology domains of
Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (AME), Health and Biomedical

Sciences (HBMS), Urban Solutions and Sustainability (USS), and Services and
Digital Economy (SDE). 13

11 Lee Kuan Yew, From Third World to First: The Singapore Story: 1965 – 2000
(Singapore: Times Edition, 2002).
12 http://www.mti.gov.sg/MTIInisghts/Pages/1998-2009.aspx
13 Public investment in research and innovation has grown over the last 25 years. In
1995, the budget allocated for R&D was S$2 billion. Today, under the Research,
Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2020 Plan, S$19 billion was committed to drive