During the Philanthropy Asia Summit 2025, which took place on May 5 in Singapore, billionaire philanthropist Gates stated that his foundation aims to open a new office within Singapore’s city limits. Setting up relations within Singapore allows the foundation to strategically deepen its collaboration within Asia to further Singapore’s reputation as a scientific and charitable powerhouse.
Reasons for Choosing Singapore
During the Philanthropy Asia Summit, Gates spoke on the reasons why Singapore was chosen as the location for the new office. Most notably, Singapore will enable him to “access the science to partner with the philanthropic community” as well as give the foundation access to “the research being done” locally. These remarks reflect how global San Francisco’s philanthropic health policies are and illustrate the foundation’s need to be at the center of the philanthropic and scientific hub in Asia.
Gates’ Remarks on Asian Innovation
As Bill Gates commented during a dialogue with Singapore’s President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the Philanthropy Asia Summit, The Straits Times reports, ‘Asian innovation is a part of why I am so excited about the progress we can make in health.’ Gates’s acknowledgment of, ‘When we thought of Asian innovation, we mostly thought about low cost—which is a great thing,’ shows the region’s contribution in terms of cost efficiency. Additionally, Gates mentioned, ‘The lowest-cost vaccines in the world are made in India and Indonesia—this region,’ shedding light on the area’s efficiency. This signifies his claim that Asia’s contribution to innovation is changing from merely low-cost manufacturing to more advanced research and development, especially in the context of international public health advancement.
About the Gates Foundation
As an example of a prominent philanthropic entity, we have the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which was inaugurated in 2000 by its namesakes, with a major focus now being poverty eradication, aiding in the combat of various diseases, and addressing inequality and improving overall living conditions in developing countries. Living conditions is a multifaceted term that encompasses the physical, social, and psychological health conditions of people.
Support and Broader Commitment
The support from the Economic Development Board of Singapore will be critical in facilitating the establishment of the Gates Foundation’s presence in Singapore. As communicated in a CNA report citing a press release issued concurrently with Gates’ announcement, the board considers this action to be indicative of the foundation’s broader commitment. This commitment is said to center around partnering with many countries and global stakeholders to help as many people as possible live a productive and healthy life. The foundation’s goals in Singapore are also viewed as contributing to the acceleration of global progress toward sustainable development around the world, especially in the East and Southeast Asian region.
Discussion with Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Bill Gates has reportedly met with Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday, May 5, in addition to his participation in the Philanthropy Asia Summit. Through a Facebook post, Lee shared some information about the discussion. It appears that they were rather productive, covering a number of different topics, including the global eradication of polio and measles, as well as advancements in nuclear power technology. In addition, Lee’s post explained that they also worked out how Gates’ foundation could expand its partnerships with Singapore institutions, explicitly stating Temasek Trust and local universities as key collaborators for prospective initiatives.
Singapore Leadership Remarks
In his last post on Facebook, Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong ended with remarks directed to the Gates Foundation and other entities contemplating establishing a foothold in Singapore. “We welcome the Gates Foundation and others to continue to bring their businesses and interests here to Singapore and invest in our ecosystem and deepen our ties with the region,” he stated. The words of this senior leader in Singapore highlight the city’s foremost invitation and endorsement of foreign companies and businesses seeking to establish a presence and invest in the ecosystem to strengthen relations regionally, thereby reinforcing Singapore’s global initiatives hub status.
