Speech by SMS Dr Koh Poh Koon at the 3rd Annual Indoor Ag-Con Asia

Jan 16, 2018

Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here at the 3rd Annual Indoor Ag-Con Asia conference. I thank the organizers for inviting me.  To our foreign friends, let me extend a warm welcome to you.  While we are enjoying the cool weather in Singapore, the farmers however, are not having a great time. The heavy rain and darkening skies have put a lot of stress on our farming industry. This further illustrates the importance of having technology as a platform in a time of weather uncertainties and more extreme weather changes which will impact us globally as well as our food supply. This conference has always been an important knowledge-sharing and networking platform for the indoor agriculture industry. This is a sector that is also generating increasing interest.  In this regard, I am pleased that Newbean Capital has anchored the Asian leg of the conference in Singapore and I hope that we will have many more years of such partnership, and we will see an even greater crowd attending this conference in years to come. 

Over the past decade, Singapore’s startup ecosystem has made significant progress. The total number of technology startups increased from 2,800 in 2003 to 4,300 in 2016, with a current workforce of 24,000 people in the startup industry.  We have also seen a sizeable increase in the number and aggregate valuations of startup exits.  In 2015 alone, 220 venture capital deals worth over US$1 billion were completed, compared to 26 deals worth US$80 million in 2010.  So we are seeing more startups and high value exits.

Riding on this momentum, SPRING Singapore launched Startup SG early last year, a brand identity to position Singapore as a leading hub and launchpad for startups to scale and grow, both regionally and globally.  Startup SG unifies the Government’s startup schemes and offers assistance on various fronts, including mentorship for first-time entrepreneurs; grant support to fast-track commercialisation of technology solutions; Government co-investment to catalyse private equity; and resources for incubators and accelerators.  One of the nascent sectors that has benefitted from this entrepreneurship drive is the food and agri-tech industry.  

Singapore is not generally thought of as an agricultural nation.  As a small island, we have never had enough land to accommodate large scale traditional farming.  But by virtue of being so dependent on imports, food security has always been very high on our agenda. We recognize our vulnerability to factors like climate change and disease outbreaks which can result in food supply shocks. Fortunately, modern technology is opening up new opportunities for small countries like us. In particular, advances in indoor agri-technology make it possible to produce significant amounts of food without delegating huge amounts of land and labour.       

We can see this with indoor vertical systems for vegetables and fish.   These controlled environments are more sustainable, more efficient, and also higher yielding.  You can now do more with less. For example, growing crops indoors vertically under LED lights reduces water usage by 90% compared to traditional outdoor farms.  Spoilage is also reduced.  Of course, the problem with indoor agriculture systems has always been cost.  But things are changing.  With advancing technology, the price of LED lights could fall even further in the next few years.   

We see this as a promising industry for the future.  With global population growth, increasing climate change, and rapid urbanization, efficient and sustainable indoor solutions with small resource footprints will be important parts of the global food supply chain.  So we have been actively facilitating the growth of agri-tech startups.  We support companies with funding schemes like SPRING Singapore’s Capability Development Grant (CDG) and Startup SG Grant, as well as AVA’s Agriculture Productivity Fund.  One of the beneficiaries of APF and CDG is Sustenir Agriculture, an indoor farm.  From humble beginnings, it is now selling its vegetables in supermarkets and in F&B establishments in Singapore.  It is also branching out into e-commerce.  With its patent-pending indoor farming system, the company plans to expand into Hong Kong and China.  

We are also seeing a growth in local agri-tech solution providers.  For example, Agriculture Total Solutions developed customised lighting systems to optimise plant growth.  Another example is SGLAB, which developed an ultra-low power sensing system that can be operated wirelessly. The wireless capability allows farm operators to easily connect the system to other IoT devices and solutions, and digitally run their farm operations, so farmers may now operate the farms from their home. 

We are looking to do more.  SPRING Singapore recently partnered Newbean Capital to launch the inaugural Indoor Ag-Ignite pitch competition.  We want to discover promising startups with innovative ideas in indoor agriculture and to showcase them in Singapore.  I understand that the competition has attracted 13 participants from seven different countries.  Winners of this competition will be offered a $50,000 Startup SG grant, and fast tracked to appear in SPRING’s startup competition – SLINGSHOT later this year.  

Established agri-tech companies will also find that Singapore has much to offer. First, we have cultivated deep R&D expertise in biotech, precision engineering, and marine and off-shore engineering.  These R&D competencies in related areas can speed up the development of the precision agriculture and agri-biotech sector.  We already have players in these areas like Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, which has strong capabilities in plant sciences and farming systems.  In tandem, our strong intellectual property protection framework protects research findings and innovations.  

Second, we adopt a facilitative approach to regulations. We understand that new industries may face regulatory hurdles. So our agencies work closely with companies to overcome these challenges.  For example, we realised that indoor farms needed ready spaces to kick-start their operations.  In this context, our agencies made provisions for these entities to use private industrial spaces which were previously ring-fenced for only industrial purposes.  AVA also introduced account managers to facilitate companies’ interactions with the various regulatory agencies that they need to work with, to make navigating the various grants much easier for our tech-adopters.

Third, we have an environment that helps companies expand into global markets.  We are a well-positioned and efficient logistics hub.  Our stringent food safety standards also generate consumer trust and allow companies exporting from Singapore to enjoy premium quality branding.  We are studying the feasibility of co-locating various food-related industries in a sort of “cluster”. Singapore could potentially become a test-bed to develop exportable models for food and agri-tech solutions. 

Fourth and related to the point above, our close proximity to Asian markets will allow companies based in Singapore to expand their opportunities. Given the challenges that I mentioned earlier, many countries may start looking at more indoor agri-technology solutions for their needs as well; this will hopefully also meet their longer-term food supply needs.  As a regional hub, Singapore can be the gateway to other Asian markets.  

I hope that as you develop new ideas over the next two days, you can also take time to explore the opportunities to base yourselves here in Singapore. The Government is committed to develop a robust food and agri-tech eco-system here, and would welcome you to be part of this journey with us. 

I wish you an enriching conference and hope that you have some time to experience the sights, sounds, and tastes of Singapore. 

Thank you.