SPEECH BY MR ONG YE KUNG, MINISTER FOR HEALTH, AT THE OPENING OF GSK’S HIGH POTENCY FACILITY, SINGAPORE, ON 17 NOVEMBER 2022

Thank you for inviting me. We appreciate all these years of partnership with GSK. You have been here for decades, and we value this enduring friendship and partnership. To build this facility in Singapore shows the confidence we have in each other.

2. Growing investments and being open to the world are critical for Singapore. As we go through generations of leaders, be assured that Singapore will always be open. We are a small market, and whatever is produced here is always for the rest of the world. Within Singapore, we make sure that the conditions are right – a competitive tax regime, very skilled and well educated workers, stable industrial relationship, political and social stability, rule of law – the basic things that make us tick, and make international investors confident in putting their most important facilities here.

3. In terms of healthcare, we have invested much in R&D and biological sciences and I think it is starting to pay off. We now have an entire ecosystem of research such as on precision cancer treatment, which is a major area of focus. We have a strong pipeline of products coming onstream which will redefine cancer treatment in the medium term.

4. In terms of our overall healthcare strategy, you would have heard of Healthier SG, a major transformation project. Along with it are health screening, early detection of onset of cancer and more novel treatments that can be very effective and cost-effective. These are exciting times ahead. The Ministry of Health is changing our systems to suit the times to embrace technology that is coming our way. We look forward to having GSK and all other industry partners to journey with us in these very exciting times ahead.

5. Thank you very much and congratulations.