S$100m budget to enhance Singapore's quality and standards ecosystem: Tharman

THE government will set aside a budget of S$100 million over the next five years to enhance Singapore's Quality & Standards (Q&S) ecosystem.

The money will also support small and medium-sized enterprises through standards adoption projects.

This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam at a gala dinner on Tuesday to celebrate 50 years of nation-building through Q&S.

Mr Tharman, who is also Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies, stressed that Singapore's Q&S ecosystem remains critical for the future.

"It will be a key pillar of the innovation-driven economy that we must be, and it will provide full support for the directions being developed by the Committee on the Future Economy," he said in his speech to some 600 guests at the Resorts World Convention Centre.

He added that the Q&S ecosystem should support market access for Singapore companies, as well as spur innovation in order to play a key enabling role in Singapore's future economy.