This week, Singapore takes centre stage in a growing global conversation on health, climate, and inclusive development. The city-state is hosting two high-profile gatherings: the 2025 Philanthropy Asia Summit and Temasek’s Ecosperity Week.

These flagship events are drawing together a formidable gathering of philanthropists, investors, and innovators, united by a mission to transform capital into real-world solutions across Asia. At the heart of the discussions: how to drive progress in health, education, and climate through purpose-driven collaboration and sustainable finance.

On day one ( May 5 ), Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announced that the foundation will open a regional office in Singapore.

“This is not just symbolic, it’s strategic,” says Gates. The move reflects Singapore’s growing stature not only as a family office hub but also as a global centre for health and climate innovation, the city-state being close to Southeast Asia’s emerging economies with their acute development challenges.

The office is expected to accelerate the foundation’s investments in vaccine development, health system strengthening, and local R&D partnerships, particularly across Asean and South Asia.

Delivering outcomes to the underserved

In a packed session featuring a dialogue between Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Bill Gates, the American billionaire said the architecture of global health finance is changing. “The future must be multipolar,” he stresses, emphasizing that capital should increasingly flow through regional platforms anchored in Asia. “We need to build institutions that are agile, regional, and trusted.”

The Singaporean president picked up on that thread, saying: “Innovation without access is inequality by another name.” He underscored the need for financing models that don’t just fund innovation but deliver outcomes to the underserved.

Both made a forceful case for blended finance. Gates highlighted the catalytic role of philanthropy in de-risking early-stage innovations in health and climate. Tharman went further, calling for sovereign-backed vehicles that combine public, private, and philanthropic funds to unlock investment at scale.

“We need to build the kind of financing architecture that climate and health equity both demand, long-term, patient, and locally aligned,” Tharman says.

The panel also addressed what is still missing – standardized metrics, scalable procurement models, and digital platforms to verify impact across borders. Both Gates and Tharman agreed on the urgency of a systemic shift, where data and capital flow in tandem, to reshape how global finance supports development goals.

As the week’s conversations unfold, the Gates Foundation’s expanded footprint in Singapore may prove to be a strategic lever, deepening Asia’s role in delivering global health and climate solutions and localizing capital where it’s needed most.