Singapore's medtech sector, locally made medical devices making their mark

Sector a key pillar of healthcare industry here, with products widely used abroad

- Salma Khalik

One in 10 contact lenses used globally comes from Singapore, as does one in five cardiac-related implants such as surgical structural heart valves, pacemakers and stents.

The Republic also produces half the mass spectrometry systems used worldwide to test for a range of things such as drugs or food contamination, and 90 per cent of gene chips that allow scientists to evaluate and store large amounts of genetic data.

Made-in-Singapore medical devices are not the only ones punching above their weight in this growing market that the Economic Development Board (EDB) estimates will hit US$225 billion (S$304 billion) by 2030 in Asia alone.

An EDB spokesman said Singapore's medical technology, or medtech, sector has been growing steadily, with a manufacturing output of $19 billion in 2022 - a $2 billion increase over 2021. In 2012, it was $5 billion.

There are now more than 400 medtech companies here, employing over 16,000 people mostly highly skilled technicians, although there is a fair share of scientist-researchers.

Mr John Eng, EDB's vice-president of the healthcare division, said: "EDB, together with other government agencies, has worked to develop and grow the industry for over 20 years."

This entailed building a conducive environment and skilled manpower to support the needs of this highly skilled sector.