In 2023, Singapore attracted investment commitments which included $12.7 billion of fixed asset investment (FAI), a respectable performance given the long-term goal of between $8 billion and $10 billion. Not entirely surprisingly though, the focus has fallen on the 44 per cent plunge from the $22.5 billion of FAI notched up in 2022, and whether that should be cause for alarm. One must, however, put the impressive 2022 number into context as it was an exceptional year with a boost from the semiconductor supercycle. Even as it announced those numbers back in early 2023, the Economic Development Board (EDB) already warned that a repeat performance would be hard to come by.

Looking more closely behind the headline number of $12.7 billion can be instructive. Investment commitments came from some 10 industries, including biomedical manufacturing. Chemicals outpaced investments in electronics in a sign of the wide range of industries. R&D was one sector where FAI at around $2.1 billion was higher than the 2022 figure of $1.4 billion. These are investments which bode well as an important long-term driver of innovation and future growth.