The Gates Foundation has announced plans to establish a presence in Singapore to strengthen its partnerships with government, philanthropies and institutions across Southeast Asia and support progress toward global health and development goals.
The Gates Foundation is an American private non-profit foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Founded in 2000, it was known as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation until 2024, when Melinda resigned from her role as co-chair in June that year.
Supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), the establishment of a Singapore presence reflects the Gates Foundation's broader commitment to working alongside countries and partners to help more people live healthy and productive lives, and to accelerate progress toward achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, reads a May 5 announcement.
While the announcement did not specify the structure of this presence in Singapore, the Microsoft co-founder says the Gates Foundation will set up an "office" in Singapore.
Bill announced the plans at the Philanthropy Asia Summit 2025 on May 5 while on a panel with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
At the end of 2023, the Gates Foundation had an endowment of some US$75.2 billion. In January this year, the Gates Foundation announced it would operate with a budget of US$8.74 billion in 2025, in line with its commitment to reach overall annual distributions of US$9 billion next year.
See also: Melinda French Gates’ US$12.5 bil creates path to unrestricted giving
"As the Gates Foundation marks 25 years, we're excited to strengthen our presence in Southeast Asia through Singapore. Singapore's leadership in innovation and philanthropy makes it an ideal hub to help scale solutions that improve lives across the region and beyond," says Hari Menon, director, South and Southeast Asia, Gates Foundation.
EDB managing director Jermaine Loy says Singapore's strategic location and research ecosystem makes it a "strong platform" for advancing healthcare, fintech and artificial intelligence innovations that can deliver meaningful impact across the region and the world. "We look forward to partnering with the Gates Foundation to scale impactful solutions across Southeast Asia and beyond, tapping on Singapore's status as a hub for innovation."
