S'pore Links Minds to Solve Challenges: DPM Heng

Sharing ideas crucial to tackle pandemics, climate change, he tells forum in China

- Lim Min Zhang

BEIJING - Challenges facing mankind, such as ageing populations, pandemics and climate change, call for the sharing of ideas, resources and expertise between countries, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat said on March 27 at a forum in China.

Singapore seeks to contribute to this global effort by connecting the best minds globally to advance these goals, he said at the Beijing Zhongguancun Forum, an annual showcase for Chinese technology.

DPM Heng cited the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (Create), which was established in Singapore in 2012 to bring together top global universities, including Cambridge and Shanghai Jiaotong, to collaborate on research.

In 2024, the Create laboratory at the National University of Singapore, established by the National Research Foundation which DPM Heng chairs, launched a research programme on decarbonisation to gather the best researchers globally to work on green economic growth.

The lab's next programme will focus on promoting healthy and successful longevity, he added, as countries from Singapore to China and Germany face challenges with ageing populations.

DPM Heng was on a four-day working visit to China, where he met senior Chinese officials and attended other engagements to advance bilateral cooperation. He wrapped up his trip on the night of March 27.