The Gates Foundation is establishing an office in Singapore, its first in Southeast Asia. The philanthropic foundation chaired by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is setting up its first Southeast Asian office in Singapore to facilitate collaboration with local philanthropists and researchers. “The Gates Foundation is putting an office here, to access the science, to partner with the philanthropic community,” Gates said during a dialogue with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the Philanthropy Asia Summit in May. “It's really to partner with philanthropists, to partner with the research being done here,” he added. He did not give a timeframe. The foundation currently has two offices in Asia: one in Delhi and the other in Beijing. Founded in 2000 by Gates and his then-wife Melinda French Gates, the foundation addresses global development, health, gender equality and education issues. The American billionaire also tackles environmental problems through his Breakthrough Energy group. “Both of those organisations are very excited about what's going on in Singapore,” Gates said, without elaborating. He added Breakthrough Energy has a deep relationship with Temasek and a growing r...