Establishment of National Research Fund
4.—(1) A fund called the National Research Fund is established, which must be held, managed and administered as a Government fund.
(2) There must be paid into the Fund —(a)
all moneys from time to time appropriated from the Consolidated Fund and authorised to be paid into the Fund by this Act or any other written law;
(b)
all other revenues of Singapore allocated by any written law to the Fund;
(c)
all gifts and donations paid by any person or organisation to the Government for the purposes of the Fund generally;
(d)
amounts received by the Board or Government —(i)
from the sale of any property paid for with money from the Fund;
(ii)
from the sale of any property produced, or from dealing with patents or other intellectual property rights in respect of inventions made, in the course of any research and development activity paid for with money from the Fund; or
(iii)
in respect of any work paid for with money from the Fund;
(e)
all investments out of moneys in the Fund authorised to be made by this Act or any other written law and the proceeds of any of those investments, including the net income from those investments; and
(f)
all sums received by way of repayment of any loan or advance from the Fund and any interest from that loan or advance.
(3) The Fund must be regarded as comprising public moneys for the purposes of any other written law.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (2)(e), the net income from investments is the amount ascertained by adding to, or deducting from, the income received from investments of moneys in the Fund any profit derived or loss sustained (as the case may be) from the realisation of those investments.
Purposes of Fund
5.—(1) The object of the Fund is to provide for the funding and administration of research and development activities with a view to —(a)
encouraging the development in Singapore of innovative products, processes and services;
(b)
increasing investment by the public and private sectors in Singapore in research and development activities that will make Singapore more internationally competitive;
(c)
promoting the technological advancement of the public and private sectors in Singapore through a focus on innovation; and
(d)
creating an environment that is conducive to increase commercialisation of new processes and product technologies.
(2) The moneys in the Fund may be withdrawn and applied for all or any of the following purposes only:(a)
to provide financial assistance (including loans and scholarships) to any public authority, enterprise, educational institution or other person (whether in Singapore or elsewhere) undertaking or facilitating research and development activities;
(b)
to promote or assist (financially or otherwise) any enterprise engaged in the exploitation of research and development activities undertaken by any public authority, enterprise, educational institution or other person (whether in Singapore or elsewhere), where the enterprise, in the opinion of the Board —(i)
is profitable and efficient or capable of becoming profitable and efficient; and
(ii)
has reasonable prospects for profitability, development, expansion, growth or providing viable employment;
(c)
the payment of remuneration or allowances payable to persons (other than public officers) engaged to advise the Board or Council in the performance of their respective functions under this Act;
(d)
the payment of other expenses incurred by the Board or Council in the performance of their respective functions under this Act, including any remuneration or allowances payable to the members of the Board or Council who are not public officers;
(e)
the payment of expenses mentioned in section 6.
(3) The moneys in the Fund may also be invested in —(a)
any investment authorised under section 7 of the Financial Procedure Act 1966; and
(b)
any other investments that the Board thinks fit, not being any stock, bond, fund or security issued by the Government.
Expenses
6. All expenses incidental to or arising from the administration, investment and management of moneys in the Fund are charged upon and payable out of the Fund.
Withdrawals
7.—(1) Moneys must not be withdrawn from the Fund unless they are charged upon the Fund or are authorised to be withdrawn or transferred under this Act.
(2) A payment must not be made out of the Fund unless the payment is authorised by the Board.
