Business Potential for Agricultural Biotechnology - Asian Productivity ...

Business Potential for Agricultural Biotechnology Products
quality, and design services. All of these have offered life science companies a quick start-up in
addition to the support of the advanced telecommunications infrastructure and powerful computing
resources known as bioinformatics. Today, the Science Park houses some 180 local and
MNC tenants within the 270,000 sq m gross floor space and an Innovation Center of 2,000 sq m
with 29 start-up companies from the different industrial sectors, i.e., information technology,
electronics, chemicals, materials, and biotechnology.
AVA and EDB have also developed the Agri-Bio Park (APB) located next to the Lim Chu
Kang Agrotechnology Park in northwest Singapore. Land in lots of one hectare can be allocated
on 30-year leases for agri-biotechnology activities. This will further strengthen Singapore as a
center of excellence in tropical agro-technology. In addition, Agri-food and Technologies Pte.
Ltd. (ATP), a private arm of AVA, was incorporated in October 2000 to further support regional
developing agribusiness, including the agri-biotechnology business. Agri-biotech companies
interested in investing in Singapore or in this region for product development, commercialization
of laboratory findings, and production of agri-biotechnological materials can avail themselves of
its consultancy, training, and certification services.
INVESTMENT FINANCIAL SUPPORT
In support of a large-scale financial commitment to the life sciences and biotechnology
sector, the government has created a number of mechanisms—Pharmbio Growth Fund, Singapore
Bio-Innovations and Life Sciences Investments—to provide funds to the private sector to
upgrade technologies and form joint ventures with leading international biotechnology and
pharmaceutical companies. It has channeled more than SGD1.7 billion into biotech funds and
has allocated SGD1.5 billion for biotech R&D and SGD2 billion to attract investment in local
and foreign in biotech start-ups. This risk-sharing environment also includes numerous investment
and start-up assistance schemes—SEEDS, Patent Application Fund PLUS, Enterprise Investment
(Technopreneur) Scheme, Venture Capital—and programs—Growth Financing Program
3 —for innovation, R&D, and intellectual property managed by EDB.
Manpower Development Programs
Keeping up with local talent as well as attracting more global talent is key to maintaining a
knowledge-based economy. Talent will include the whole spectrum of researchers, entrepreneurs,
investment bankers, analysts, venture capitalists, and patent and corporate lawyers. The government
is adopting an open-door policy to draw in talent from around the world.
Continuing efforts under the NSTP, driven by then-NSTB, now A*STAR, and other government
agencies such as EDB include the launch in April 2000 of a five-year Life Sciences
Manpower Development Program costing SGD60 million to increase the pool of talent to propel
Singapore’s push into the life sciences. The initiatives include offering postgraduate and Ph.D.
scholarships, a fellowship program, and an exchange program to create a cluster of 245 life
science experts to support the newly-developed sector.
Favorable Intellectual Property (IP) Regime
Protection of intellectual property (IP) is key to a thriving biotechnology business that
fuully taps into the value of the technology developed. The Patents Act of Singapore contains no
restriction to the patentability of plants and animals or other biotechnological inventions such as
DNA or living tissues as long as the bio-intervention does not contradict public morality. However,
the IP regime does not contain many incentives to preserve and maintain traditional knowledge
of local and indigenous communities or to provide developing countries with access to
technologies in a just and equitable manner. This is being addressed under the recent ASEAN
3 http://www.sedb.com/edbcorp/sg/en_uk/index/investors/assistance_schemes/for_innovation.html.
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