The Ambassador of Italy to Singapore and Brunei Darussalam, Dante Brandi, met with Mr. Heng Swee Keat, Chairman of the National Research Foundation (NRF), former Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies, and Minister for Finance of Singapore. Mr. Heng currently oversees Singapore’s Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) strategies and the integration between research and industrial transformation. The meeting was also attended by Dr Nicola Bianchi, Scientific Attaché of the Embassy, and Ms. Elizabeth Heng, Senior Director (Strategy) at the NRF.
The discussion focused on strengthening bilateral relations between Italy and Singapore and on exploring new opportunities for scientific and technological cooperation, with particular attention to the significant results achieved under the first Executive Programme for Cooperation in Science and Technology and the planning of a second edition for the period 2026–2028. Areas of common interest include ageing and healthcare, artificial intelligence, robotics, quantum technologies, advanced manufacturing, urban solutions and sustainability, energy transition, and FoodTech.
Ambassador Brandi highlighted that Singapore represents an innovative ecosystem open to collaboration with Italian high-tech companies, many of which have already established or are in the process of opening research laboratories and innovation hubs in the country.
He also emphasized the important role of the Italian scientific community in Singapore, which is already contributing to the city-state’s technological and innovative growth, expressing his hope for further strengthening of collaborations between Italian and Singaporean universities and research institutions in the near future.
