Singapore will invest S$143 million (nearly $112 million) in research and development to help manufacturers reduce emissions while preserving their competitiveness, the country’s Economic Development Board (EDB) said Friday.

The Industry Decarbonization Funding Initiative will support technologies addressing industrial emissions, including carbon capture and the conversion of captured carbon dioxide (CO2) into useful products. The program forms part of Singapore’s broader Decarbonization Grand Challenge, worth a total S$800 million ($626.2 million).

Manufacturing contributes about 20% of Singapore’s gross domestic product and employs roughly one-eighth of its workforce. Industry accounts for about 65% of national emissions, including those associated with electricity consumption, making industrial decarbonization central to the country’s goal of reaching net zero by 2050.

Singapore must cut emissions without undermining businesses’ ability to grow and provide jobs, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong said in a comment. Limited land and renewable-energy resources, alongside complex industrial operations, mean technologies developed elsewhere may not always suit local conditions, he added.

Up to S$100 million ($78.2 million) of the initiative will go to a new program, Decarbonization Research for Industry, Ventures, and Enterprise, known as DRIVE. Companies will identify the problems they need to solve and work with Singapore’s research institutions to develop potential solutions, with the program sharing research and development costs.

Separately, five projects from an earlier low-carbon energy research program will receive follow-on funding through a S$65 million ($50.8 million) grant call. The money will support technology scale-up and trials in industrial settings.

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