State Secretary Martina Hirayama visits Singapore to strengthen cooperation in education, research and innovation
Bern, 06.10.2023 - On 5 and 6 October 2023, State Secretary Martina Hirayama held talks with a State Minister and a State Secretary as well as with representatives of Singapore's research and technology funding agencies. She also visited the four campuses of Swiss universities based in Singapore.
Switzerland and Singapore enjoy excellent relations and collaborate in numerous ERI projects. Singapore is the only country in the world where four Swiss universities maintain a physical presence: ETH Zurich, the University of St Gallen, IMD Business School and EHL Education Group (formerly École hôtelière de Lausanne). As Leading House Asia, ETH Zurich is also responsible for promoting collaboration in science and technology with the East and Southeast Asia region.
In terms of the number of bilateral research collaborations supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, Singapore ranks 12th among all non-European countries and first among all ASEAN countries. As part of Singapore's process to strengthen its VET system (the SkillsFuture programme), the country has shown great interest from the outset in the Swiss model because of its systemic permeability, labour market orientation and crucial involvement of the private sector.
Against this background, Ms Hirayama and her delegation held productive talks with Minister of State for Education Gan Siow Huang, Permanent Secretary of the National Research Foundation (NRF) Tan Chorh Chuan, and Frederick Chew, CEO of the Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). NRF and A*STAR are the Singaporean counterparts to the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Innosuisse funding agency.
Address for enquiries
State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation
Communication
medien@sbfi.admin.ch
+41 58 462 96 90
Publisher
State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation
http://www.sbfi.admin.ch
