Gates Foundation to open office in Singapore

SINGAPORE — The Gates Foundation will be setting up an office in Singapore, said its chairman Bill Gates on May 5.

Speaking at the Philanthropy Asia Summit convened by Temasek Trust's Philanthropy Asia Alliance, Gates said: "The Gates Foundation is putting an office here — to access the science, to partner with the philanthropic community."

Founded in 2000 by Gates and his then wife Melinda French Gates, the foundation is a philanthropic organisation that aims to fight poverty, disease and inequity around the world.

"I would say that Asian innovation is a part of why I am so excited about the progress we can make in health. Initially, when we thought of Asian innovation, we mostly thought about low cost — which is a great thing," Gates said during a dialogue with President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

"I mean, the lowest-cost vaccines in the world are made in India, Indonesia — this region. But more and more, the innovation is about cutting-edge work."

Gates added: "Both (Gates Foundation and Breakthrough Energy) are very excited about what's going on in Singapore."

Breakthrough Energy is an umbrella group for energy and environmental efforts founded by Gates. It aims to accelerate innovation in sustainable energy and in other technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The foundation's presence here will be established with the support of the Economic Development Board (EDB).

EDB said in a separate statement on May 5 that the establishment of a Singapore presence reflects the Gates Foundation's broader commitment to working alongside countries and partners to help more people live healthy and productive lives, and to accelerate progress towards achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

During the dialogue, Tharman touched on the importance of capacity building.

"We need a step-up in resources — public sector resources within countries, philanthropic money and private finance — but it's not just about volumes, but effectiveness," he said.

"So if you think of how we can best deploy even a billion dollars, I think we first have to refocus on building up the domestic capacity within countries for them to be more self-sufficient," he added, pointing to the importance of building up "domestic tax capacity" and the ability to execute budgets more effectively.

"It's not a hopeless case at all. What many don't realise is that in the lowest-income regions of the world, several countries have significantly increased their tax revenues — by at least 2 to 3 percentage points of GDP (gross domestic product), without loss to economic growth. It's doable," he added.

"Developing capacity within countries has to be a renewed priority," Tharman said. "There's still huge potential for capacity development in Asia and in the developing world at large."

In a Facebook post on May 5, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said he had a wide-ranging conversation on the challenges ahead, from clean energy to vaccine development, with Gates.

"Singapore looks forward to working closely with the Gates Foundation to advance innovation and improve lives — here in Asia and around the world," he wrote.

Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on May 5 that he and Gates exchanged views over lunch on topics ranging from eradicating polio and measles to developing new technologies for nuclear power.

"We also discussed how the Gates Foundation could collaborate more with entities in Singapore, like Temasek Trust and the universities," he wrote in a Linked­In post.

"The Gates Foundation is planning to establish a presence here, to support its work in our region with governments, philanthropies and institutions, in support of its global health and development goals.

"We welcome the Gates Foundation and others to continue to bring their businesses and interests here to Singapore and invest in our ecosystem and deepen our ties with the region."

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.