Distinguished guests, partners, and friends,

Welcome to the Innovation Spotlight at this year’s Philanthropy Asia Summit.

It is quite evident that we are living in a time when the challenges facing our region are becoming more complex, more urgent, and more interconnected.

Climate change no longer sits apart from health. Food insecurity is tied to livelihoods and migration. Inequality shapes resilience itself. The challenges are all converging, but so too are the opportunities  to respond with greater imagination, partnership, and purpose.

It is a defining moment for Asia.

Across the region, we are seeing a new generation of innovators stepping forward, not with distant theories, but practical solutions to immediate problems. They are building cleaner energy systems, strengthening food resilience, expanding access to healthcare, and using technology to reach communities that traditional systems often overlook.

What they need is not only recognition. They need conditions that will allow innovations to thrive: catalytic capital, trusted partnerships, patient support, and institutions prepared to take the long view.

That is the purpose of today’s gathering.

Innovation does not advance just because good ideas exist. It advances when ecosystems come together to back those ideas with conviction. The goal of this Spotlight is therefore not simply to showcase innovation, but to help create pathways for innovation to achieve scale, trust, and lasting impact.

Today, you will be hearing from a few leaders who have been working at the frontier of technology and social impact. Google DeepMind will explore how responsible AI can accelerate climate modelling and drug discovery. Tencent will share how digital platforms can broaden participation in philanthropy. BRIN will demonstrate what meaningful collaboration across public, private, and philanthropic sectors can achieve in practice.

You will also meet more than 30 startups already translating ambition into action. It is a most impressive showcase — across climate, health, food systems, employability, and financial inclusion.

• In climate and sustainability, innovators are tackling supply chain traceability, textile and food waste upcycling, precision agriculture, sustainable aquaculture, plant-based alternatives, and clean energy storage and transport.
• In health, the focus spans early disease detection, community pharmacy strengthening, patient management digitalisation, autism therapy, senior care, and vital sign monitoring.
• In inclusive development, startups are addressing frontline worker skilling, disability employment, deaf accessibility, student financing, and financial inclusion for underserved communities.

You give us much cause for hope. Because your ideas are an important reminder that innovative solutioning is already happening — here, now. The question is whether we are prepared to support it with the conviction and commitment it deserves. 

At Temasek Trust, we believe that the most complex challenges cannot be solved by any one sector alone. It needs collaboration and synchronous action across public, private, and philanthropic players. Progress will depend on collective leadership. Philanthropy can take risks others cannot. Enterprises can scale solutions. Governments can create enabling environments. And innovators like you can challenge assumptions and open new possibilities.

We want to help bring all of these strengths together — to connect ideas, institutions, and partners in ways that can create enduring impact. Where the greatest returns are measured not only in market returns, but in lives improved and futures protected.

I hope today sparks new partnerships, sharper convictions, and renewed commitment to support innovations that truly matter. We look forward to learning more about yours.

Thank you for your exciting work, and I wish you a meaningful and productive Innovation Spotlight ahead.