Singapore wants more tech startups

The government eyes fuelling private sector innovation.

Bloomberg Technology reported that Singapore’s government will support technology startups by doing business with them rather than having them rely on grants as the city-state pushes ahead with a plan to become a high-tech hub.

The government wants to fuel private-sector innovation, especially among small and medium-sized firms, in a bid to create a digitally integrated economy, Vivian Balakrishnan, the minister in charge of the country’s "Smart Nation" initiative, said in an interview in Singapore on Tuesday.

“We’re going to feed the private sector, not by giving grants, but by buying services,” he said. “It’s a demand-driven model. I don’t believe in a grant or grantocracy.”

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