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1. Good afternoon, welcome to SGX, it’s great to have so many of you here to take part in the SGX Healthcare Day 2023.
2. We have a great lineup of experienced industry experts, investors, founders and executives to take us through some of the most topical themes in the broader healthcare space. Before we kick off, I wanted to share a few words on why we are doing this.
3. At SGX, we facilitate networks – at the core, we provide efficient connections between companies looking for capital to grow and investors looking for returns and liquidity. The better participants in the network understand each other, the more valuable and powerful the network becomes. So that is the core objective from our perspective.
4. Many of these connections are already in place. Developed over decades, especially here in Singapore through constructive policies, the highest quality of education, top notch research and facilities, and of course, the many dollars spent.
5. Today, Singapore is one of the most advanced and almost certainly the most concentrated hubs for healthcare and biomedical excellence and innovation globally.
6. Many of the world’s largest healthcare, pharma and biotech companies have substantial and growing presence here – Amgen, Lonza, Medtronic, Roche, BioNTech, Sanofi, Merck just to name a few. We also have produced homegrown successes that everyone in Singapore should be very proud of – MiRXES, Doctor Anywhere, Hummingbird Bioscience, Lucence Diagnostic, SCG.
7. And as the markets in the region continue to mature and the demand for health care services increases rapidly, Singapore has also positioned itself as a central hub for many of the largest operators in ASEAN, many of which are already listed on SGX, such as IHH Healthcare.
8. Access to capital for growth is a crucial part of the network and that’s where we come in.
9. We are well positioned today. We host more than 650 listed companies on our platform with total market capitalisation of more than US$618 billion and nearly 40% of these listings by market cap comes from outside Singapore. There are 43 healthcare companies listed with total value of US$28 billion listed on our platform.
10. But the best is yet to come, and I am convinced that over the next couple of years, we will continue to put Singapore on the map as the pan-Asian public capital markets hub of choice for this sector as well as many other new economy sectors as well.
11. Given growth, demographics, and other macro factors across the region, Singapore is gaining in importance as an investment destination relative to other places in the world.
12. This is driving significant inflows of capital from across the spectrum. Blue-chip global investors are here and increasing their presence, sovereign wealth/family offices/wealth management are unique and powerful pockets of demand in Singapore, and increasingly, retail investors are also actively participating in the market from across the region.
13. But the most important thing you need for a vibrant marketplace is a steady supply of high-quality companies ready to come to market. And that’s where many of you come in. We now have more exciting unicorns and soonicorns across sectors, including healthcare and biotech, than at any point in time before.
14. I believe we are reaching an inflection point and this massive opportunity lies ahead of us, but we cannot be complacent and assume all of this will play out easily. All of us in the network, or ecosystem, have a role to play in moving this forward, to get the flywheel going, not for the sake of it, but because it is in our mutual best interests.
15. At SGX, we provide efficient processes and regulatory frameworks that cater to specific characteristics in certain sectors such as the Life Sciences. In fact, our listing rules allow for non-revenue generating life science companies to come onboard our platform, this makes us stand on par with the other exchanges in the world.
16. We enhance access to our market from a structural point of view – easy connections, market maker and liquidity providers schemes. We continue to work on profiling, research, marketing and awareness, such as the event we do today. And importantly we have launched various initiatives to ensure investor support for SGX listings through dedicated funds like The Anchor Fund at 65 Equity Partners and EDBI’s IPO growth funds that will invest in companies working towards a public listing on SGX.
17. Capital markets professionals have an important role to play as well. Bankers, lawyers and accountants are building out capabilities. It is encouraging to see many of the bulge bracket global investment banks moving their health care industry experts to Singapore, and global and local brokers enhancing research capabilities.
18. For founders and VCs, it is important to recognise the value of listing in Singapore. It is a market where midcap companies between S$500 million to S$5 billion stand out more than elsewhere, a market that is neutral, trusted and better at connecting East and West in this ever more complex geopolitical environment. It is a market close to home where investors know you and the markets in which you operate.
19. And, of course, we urge the public market investors to pay attention to what is unfolding in the region.
20. In summary, this is a shout out to the whole network to work together towards strengthening our ecosystem. We already have the necessary building blocks in place, so let us all come together to ensure the most efficient long-term supply of capital for this industry in this part of the world. We all have a lot to gain from that. We are here to listen, to help, engage and work with you.
21. With that, let’s kick off the program. I am excited and honored to have Professor Andrea Maier, one of the world’s leading experts in the field of longevity medicine, join us today to deliver the keynote address. Thank you.
