Firms hope for support midway through long R&D projects

That will spur innovation, they say; more help urged to deepen local talent pool

- Clara Chong

More help to deepen a local talent pool and greater support for longer-term research and development (R&D) projects are some forms of support businesses here hope to receive as they innovate to remain competitive, amid the roll-out of the Enterprise Innovation Scheme that was announced in Budget 2023.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong, who delivered the Budget on Feb 14, said there is a need to nurture and sustain innovation across the economy.

The scheme paves the way for companies to tap more tax deductions when they invest in innovation. Businesses, even those which may pay little or no taxes, will also have an option to get a non-taxable cash payout of up to $20,000 to defray their innovation expenses.

Firms that The Straits Times spoke to said that more support, injected midway through long R&D projects, could further help to spur innovation. In many deep tech firms, for example, the R&D process has a long gestation period. Projects may not produce significant results during the initial years and could be stopped.

Mr Richard Koh, founder and group chief executive of homegrown fintech firm M-DAQ, said an injection of government support midway through these long projects would significantly help to elevate their chances of success.