DESPITE facing challenges from the slowing global economy, the biomedical sector will create 900 new jobs this year as companies go ahead with their expansion plans here.
These include firms such as Wyeth, Abbott, GSK Bio, Schering Plough and Perkin Elmer, Minister of Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang said in Parliament on Monday.
To date, 11 of the world's top pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have already invested in more than 25 manufacturing facilities in Singapore, with another seven new plants set to open in the next three years.
'We are confident that more will come to Singapore so that they can reach out to the Asian market more effectively,' said Mr Lim. 'Demand for effective medicines will continue to grow because people become more affluent and people age.'
Singapore should also 'prepare for the upturn' by entering new niches, such as medical technology and biologics, which are complex molecules derived from cells of mammals, bacteria and yeast.
Biologics in particular is expected to grow at 13 per cent a year, compared to just 0.9 per cent for the traditional pharmaceutical market, Mr Lim said.
- The Straits Times
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