21 January 2008

(EMBARGOED FOR PUBLICATION UNTIL 21 JAN, 12 NOON)

EDB REPORTS AN OUTSTANDING YEAR OF GROWTH AND QUALITY INVESTMENTS IN 2007

“Creating New Opportunities for Growth”

1.	Commitments in Fixed Asset Investments (FAI) brought in by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) in 2007 exceeded S$10 billion, for the first time ever, by a wide margin. It was also a record year for Total Business Spending (TBS) and number of jobs created. These strong investment achievements will open up new opportunities for growth and jobs. 2007 was notable for the depth and quality of investments in capital-, knowledge- and innovation-intensive activities that these investments will bring to Singapore in the coming years.

(I) YEAR 2007 IN REVIEW

2.	The investment commitments for year 2007 are given below:  
2007 Investment Commitment Indicators
Indicator	2006
Actual	2007 Forecast	2007
Actual	
Total Value-Added (VA)  per annum generated from projects (S$ billion)	13.4	11.0-11.5	11.6	
Fixed Asset Investment (FAI) from manufacturing (S$ billion)	8.8	8.5–9.0	16.1	
Total Business Spending (TBS) from services
(S$ billion)	2.8	2.7–2.9	3.0	
Total Employment Creation	26,800	20,000 –25,000	28,600	
Skill profile (professional and skilled jobs)	64%	65–70%	65%	

3.	EDB delivered good results in all five indicators in 2007, exceeding the forecast for the year in VA, FAI, TBS and job creation.

4.	Close to 400 projects were committed in 2007. When fully implemented, they are expected to create 28,600 new jobs and add S$11.6 billion per year to Singapore’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  Of the 28,600 jobs created, many will be in the fields of engineering, management, research, as well as creative and industrial design.  

5.	These projects not only help in developing depth in our key industry clusters, but are also notable in that many will provide the spark for new clusters to grow, such as in Clean Technology.  They reflect strong investor confidence in Singapore.  It also affirms manufacturing as a critical component of Singapore’s economic growth, and underlines our ability to continue to attract high-end complex manufacturing projects, which brings in quality jobs for people living in Singapore. 

6.	Even as EDB brings in projects with increasing demands on the skills of our workforce, we continue to invest in developing local talent to ensure that the craft and skill-sets of our workers fully meet industry requirements. To that end, we have rolled out three manpower initiatives in 2007:
•	Wafer Fabrication Specialist Manpower Programme, which will fund the training of some 900 specialised engineers for the semiconductor industry in our tertiary institutes.
•	Precision Engineering Manpower Initiative, which will fund the training of some 2,000 people at the Polytechnic and ITE level, enhancing their expertise and skill-sets in Precision Engineering.  This in turns allows them access to a wide variety of jobs within Singapore’s manufacturing sector.
•	Finally, the Clean Energy Scholarship which aims to churn out the future industry leaders of the Clean Energy sector by sponsoring 130 Masters and PhDs locally or overseas.   

(II) CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT

7.	Capital-, knowledge- and innovation-intensive activities are key to the continued and sustained development of Singapore’s economy. More importantly, such types of projects provide good jobs for people in Singapore.  Many of the projects that EDB pursues have a combination of such characteristics.
 
8.	Investors make capital-intensive investments only when they are convinced of the long-term viability of their projects and the stability of the host country.  As the industry cluster develops in depth and range, we are better able to secure a strong pipeline of capital-intensive investments for the future.  Some capital-intensive projects announced in the year include (see Annex B for project descriptions):
•	ExxonMobil’s (US) second world-scale petrochemical project in Singapore.
•	Neste Oil’s (Finland) world’s largest next-generation biodiesel manufacturing plant.
•	Novartis’s (Switzerland) large-scale biotechnology plant.

9.	EDB has also actively pursued knowledge-intensive activities which require highly-skilled workers.  These in turn boosts our workforce capability, and bring in jobs which are interesting, challenging and higher-paying for people in Singapore.    Knowledge-intensive projects announced in 2007 which require very high level of engineering skills from the Singapore workforce include (see Annex B for project descriptions):
•	Rolls-Royce (UK) setting up a plant to manufacture aircraft engines.  This will be the first plant ever in Asia to assemble and test engines for large commercial planes like the Boeing 787 and Airbus 350XWB. This ‘Factory of the Future’, will develop and incorporate the latest in engine assembly techniques. 
•	Heptagon’s (Finland/Switzerland) project bringing in revolutionary technology for the manufacture of micro-optics. The technology enables higher resolution image capture for cameras in mobile devices, and at the same time makes the device more compact and affordable.
•	TNT’s (Netherlands) largest life sciences-focused regional distribution centre using the latest in cold chain management technology to safely transport and store goods ranging from medical devices, clinical diagnostics to pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.
•	Sony (Japan) setting up a highly automated plant incorporating its most advanced technologies for the production of lithium ion polymer batteries which are used in mobile phones.

•	FormFactor (US) manufacturing its wafer probe cards in Singapore, each containing tens of thousands of MicroSprings® which are smaller than the width of a human hair, and carrying out complex testing of semiconductor wafers. 
•	Philips Lumileds (Netherlands) setting up a compound wafer fabrication facility to manufacture high power Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), which are used in products like LCD displays and camera flashes for mobile phones. This is the first such facility in Singapore.

10.	Innovation-intensive activities are also important to enhance Singapore’s capabilities and further Singapore’s competitive advantages by bringing in niche technologies.  This in turn raises the level of industrial R&D in Singapore.  Singapore’s offering to the rest of the world is a highly skilled workforce and a strong R&D infrastructure.  Some noteworthy projects announced in 2007 include (see Annex B for project descriptions):
•	PayPal (US) setting up its international headquarters and technology development centre to develop payments platform for the global market. 
•	Infineon Technologies (Germany) announcing the expansion of its R&D team to 550, with more than 200 involved in chip design. 
•	EMC (US) announcing its South Asia Development Laboratory, which will enhance Singapore’s capabilities in network storage solutions.
•	Bosch (Germany) opening its IT regional operations centre in Singapore and is providing IT services for over 200 locations in Asia Pacific. It is also establishing its Asia Pacific R&D headquarters here to carry out research in new areas. 
•	Keppel Offshore Marine (KOM) (Singapore) launching its Technology Centre to strengthen its R&D efforts in the areas of Rig and Vessel Design, FPSO topsides, subsea processing systems and shipyard process improvements, among others.

(III) NEW AREAS OF GROWTH

11.	EDB has also made good headway in developing new industries.  Some projects in the new growth areas include (see Annex B for project descriptions):
•	In Clean Energy, Renewable Energy Corporation (Norway) building the world’s largest integrated solar manufacturing complex, valued at S$6.3 billion.  Also, Oerlikon (Switzerland) recently announced that Singapore would host its only site in Asia which will manufacture and undertake R&D in solar manufacturing equipment.  Solar Energy Power (Germany), Singapore’s first solar cell manufacturing plant, started production of ultra-thin wafer-based solar cells in May 2007. 

•	In Environment and Water, R&D centres being established by Keppel (Singapore), Danish Hydraulics Institute (DHI) (Denmark) and Marmon (USA)-Hyflux (Singapore). Also, the Singapore Membrane Technology Centre was set up as part of Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute at Nanyang Technological University. Black & Veatch (USA), a leading environmental engineering firm, also established its global water design centre cum Asia-Pacific headquarters. 

•	In Natural Resources, Mitsui & Co (Japan) establishing its Asia Pacific HQ in Singapore, and NUS (Singapore) setting up the Minerals, Metals and Materials Technology Centre to undertake research and development. Also, GenoMar South East Asia Pte Ltd achieved an important breakthrough in successfully developing the world's first DNA traceability system for fish.

12.	Looking forward, EDB will explore opportunities in the following business growth areas where Singapore itself requires good solutions, where Singapore can serve as a working model and a test bed for new ideas. The three areas are:
•	Urban Solutions – Cities need to deal with pollution control, traffic management, clean water, clean energy, and various environmental problems resulting from urbanisation. An example of business opportunities that have sprung up from these areas is the Clean Energy Research and Testbedding initiative, which saw clean technology being tried out in new building constructions in Singapore, incorporating clean energy features.
•	Health, Wellness & Ageing – There is a growing interest worldwide in wellness and health, especially for the ageing population, which will drive efforts in translational medicine, and a wide variety of products and services.  Solutions for ageing populations will also look at reducing healthcare costs and improving personal productivity. 

•	Lifestyle Products & Services – These are business opportunities built upon the interest and purchasing power of the broad middle class in Singapore and the large numbers of rising middle class, especially in Asia. For example, Singapore is fast gaining a reputation as a regional commercial and solutions hub for sports, entertainment, branding, IP rights management and marketing, R&D, training and education.

13.	EDB has also been reaching out for new sources of investment from Asia and the Middle East. Last year, there were several significant projects from China, India and the Middle East.  For example, Tsinghua Tongfang (China) began operations for its Asia-Pacific R&D Centre for IT and Environment which will require 100 researchers when fully established. Wipro Technologies’ (India) is setting up an R&D centre while Tamilnadu Petroproducts and Kuwait Finance House are major joint venture partners to build a petrochemical plant.

(IV) 2008 INVESTMENT OUTLOOK 

INVESTMENT COMMITMENTS FORECAST 
14.	The investment outlook for Singapore for 2008 remains positive even while there are expectations for a worldwide economic slowdown. EDB’s investment forecast for 2008 is as follows:
Indicator	2007 Actual	2008 Forecast	
Total VA per annum generated from projects (S$ bil)	11.6	12.0 – 14.0	
FAI from manufacturing (S$ billion) 	16.1	16.0 – 18.0	
TBS from services (S$ billion)	3.0	3.0 – 3.3	
Total Employment Creation	28,600	24,000 – 28,000	
Skill Profile (professional and skilled jobs)	65%	65 – 70%	

UPDATED KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
15.	EDB has been using FAI to measure the level of Manufacturing investments and TBS as the indicator for Services investments. However, this is no longer adequate. For example, many manufacturing projects are going asset light through extensive outsourcing. To more accurately reflect the nature of economic activities that we are pursuing today and in the foreseeable future, EDB intends to measure FAI and TBS of the combined manufacturing and services sectors in its KPIs from 2008. EDB will also use Number of Skilled Jobs as its indicator for employment creation, because these are the kinds of jobs which are the focus of EDB’s efforts.  

16.	EDB’s forecasts based on the updated performance indicators are as follows:
Indicator	2007 Actual	2008 Forecast	
Total VA per annum (S$ billion)	11.6	12.0 – 14.0 	
Total FAI (S$ billion) 	17.2	17.0 – 19.0	
Total Business Spending per annum (S$ billion)	7.7	7.5 – 8.0	
Total Skilled Jobs	18,500	16,000 – 19,000	

(V) CONCLUSION

17.	“EDB has achieved many noteworthy projects in 2007.  It has been a remarkable year, and a testimony to the EDB officers who have worked passionately and innovatively to arrive at this point.  We would like to salute all our partner agencies with whom we have been working closely to satisfy the different requirements of the various projects.  Together, we make Singapore a highly attractive global business and investment hub.  But while we work hard to bring in new investments into Singapore, it is equally important that we deliver on what are promised to these investors.  We deliver, we deepen their trust, we earn their respect, we attract more to come,” said Mr Lim Siong Guan, Chairman of EDB.
- END -

Annex A – List of Tables and Charts
Annex B – Highlights of projects secured and Manpower Initiatives introduced in 2007

For media enquiries, please contact:
Mr Alex Tan
Communications
Tel: (65) 6832-6284
Mobile: (65) 9841-0392
Email: alex_tan@edb.gov.sg 

Ms Eileen Ng
Communications
Tel: (65) 6832-6660
Mobile: (65) 9369-8598
Email: yeeling@edb.gov.sg 

Annex A

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

Table A: 	Contribution by 2007 Manufacturing Investment Commitments 

Table B: 	Contribution by 2007 EDB-promoted Services Investment Commitments

Table C: 	Industry R&D Indicators

Chart 1:	Total Expected VA to be Generated by Investments Secured (1998 – 2007)

Chart 2:	Expected VA Generated by Manufacturing Investments, by Industry (2006, 2007)

Chart 3:	Expected VA Generated by Services Investments, by Industry (2006, 2007)

Chart 4:	Manufacturing FAI Commitments (1998 – 2007)

Chart 5:	Manufacturing FAI Commitments by Industry (2006, 2007)

Chart 6:	Manufacturing FAI Commitments by Region (2006, 2007)

Chart 7:	Services TBS Commitments (1998 – 2007)

Chart 8:	Services TBS Commitments by Industry (2006, 2007)

Chart 9:	Services TBS Commitments by Region (2006, 2007)

Chart 10:	Total Expected Employment Creation by Investments Secured (1998 – 2007)

Chart 11:	Expected Employment Generated by Manufacturing Investments, by Industry (2000 – 2007)

Chart 12:	Expected Employment Generated by Services Investments, by Industry (2006, 2007)

Chart 13:  Number of overseas companies from Asia Pacific ex Japan (2000 – 2007) 

Table A: Contribution by 2007 Manufacturing Investment Commitments 
Industry	VA per annum
(S$ billion)	Manufacturing FAI
(S$ billion)	Employment	
Biomedical Manufacturing	1.5	0.9	900	
Electronics	1.7	5.1	6,200	
Chemicals	1.0	8.6	1,040	
Precision Engineering	0.6	0.4	3,000	
Transport Engineering	0.7	0.5	4,840	
General Manufacturing Industries 	0.5	0.5	900	
Total	6.0	16.1	16,900	

Table B: Contribution by 2007 EDB-promoted Services Investment Commitments
Industry	VA per annum
(S$ billion)	Services TBS
(S$ billion)	Employment	
Infocomms & Media 	1.5	0.6	2,600	
HQ & Professional Services	2.5	1.3	3,500	
Engineering & Environmental Services	1.0	0.6	2,100	
Logistics	0.5	0.3	2,400	
Education	0.1	0.14	970	
Healthcare Services	0.03	0.04	140	
Total	5.6	3.0	11,700	

Table C: Industry R&D Indicators
Indicator	2005	2006	2007	
Total research investments committed for the year 
(S$ billion)	1.2	1.6	2.4	
Total employment creation for researchers, scientists and engineers for the year	1,343	1,588	2,796	
Total number of R&D projects committed for the year	118	158	114	
Number of local R&D projects committed for the year	74	102	50	

Chart 1: Total Expected VA to be Generated by Investments Secured (1998 – 2007)

Manufacturing

EDB-PromotedServices

Chart 2: Expected VA Generated by Manufacturing Investments, by Industry
(2006, 2007)

2006

Chemicals
S$0.6b, 8%

Electronics
S$3.0b, 43%

Biomedical
Manufacturing
S$2.0b, 29%

Precision Engineering
S$0.5b, 7%

Transport Engineering
S$0.6b, 9%

General Manufacturing Industries S$0.2b, 4%

Total: S$7.0 billion

2007

General Manufacturing
Industries, S$0.5b, 8%

Total: S$6.0 billion

Electronics
S$1.7b, 28%

Chemicals
S$1b, 17%

Biomedical
Manufacturing
S$1.5b, 25%

Precision Engineering
S$0.6b, 10%

Transport
Engineering
S$0.7b, 12%

Chart 3: Expected VA Generated by Services Investments, by Industry (2006, 2007)

2006

Healthcare Services
S$0.04b, 0.6%

Total: S$6.5 billion

Infocomms & Media
S$1.2b, 18.1%

Logistics
S$0.4b, 5.4%

HQ & Prof Services
S$3.4b, 52.2%

Engineering &
Environmental Services
S$1.4b, 22.3%

Education
S$0.09b, 1.4%

2007

Healthcare Services
S$0.03b, 1%

Total: S$5.6 billion

Infocomms & Media
S$1.5b, 27%

Logistics
S$0.5b, 10%

HQ & Prof Services
S$2.5b, 43%

Engineering &
Environmental Services
S$1b, 17%

Education
S$0.1b, 2%

Chart 4: Manufacturing FAI Commitments (1998 – 2007)

7.8

8.0

9.2

9.2

9.0

7.5

8.3

8.5

8.8

16.1

0

5

10

15

20

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

S$ billion

Chart 5: Manufacturing FAI Commitments by Industry (2006, 2007)

General Manufacturing
Industries, S$0.2b, 2%

2006

Total: S$8.8 billion

Electronics
S$4.3b, 49%

Chemicals
S$2.5b, 28%

Biomedical
Manufacturing
S$0.9b, 10%

Precision Engineering
S$0.4b, 5%

Transport Engineering
S$0.5b, 6%

2007

General Manufacturing
Industries, S$0.5b, 3%

Total: S$16.1 billion

Electronics
S$5.1b, 32%

Chemicals
S$8.6b, 53%

Biomedical Manufacturing
S$0.9b, 6%

Precision Engineering, S$0.4b, 3%

Transport Engineering, S$0.5b, 3%

Chart 6: Manufacturing FAI Commitments by Region (2006, 2007)

2006

Total: S$8.8 billion

USA
S$2.2b, 25%

Europe
S$2.3b, 27%

Japan
S$1.3b, 14%

Singapore
S$1.7b, 19%

Asia Pacific & Others
S$1.3b, 15%

2007

Singapore
S$1.8b, 11%

Japan
S$1.0b, 6%

Europe
S$8.4b, 52%

USA
S$3.0b, 19%

Asia Pacific &
Others S$1.9b, 12%

Total: S$16.1 billion

Chart 7: Services TBS Commitments (1998 – 2007)

3.0

2.8

2.5

1.6

1.6

1.9

1.8

2.1

1.9

2.3

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

S$ billion

Chart 8: Services TBS Commitments by Industry (2006, 2007)

Healthcare Services
S$0.02b, 1%

2006

Total: S$2.8 billion

Infocomms & Media
S$0.7b, 25%

HQ & Professional Services
S$1.2b, 43%

Engineering &
Environmental Services
S$0.4b, 15%

Logistics
S$0.4b, 13%

Education
S$0.08b, 3%

2007

Healthcare Services
S$0.04b, 1%

Education
S$0.14b, 5%

Infocomms & Media
S$0.6b, 20%

HQ & Professional Services
S$1.3b, 44%

Engineering &
Environmental Services
S$0.6b, 21%

Logistics
S$0.3b, 9%

Total: S$3 billion

Chart 9: Services TBS Commitments by Region (2006, 2007)

2006

Asia Pacific & Others
S$0.1b, 5%

Total: S$2.8 billion

USA
S$1.0b, 34%

Europe
S$0.9b, 31%

Japan
S$0.3b, 9%

Singapore
S$0.6b, 21%

2007

Asia Pacific & Others
S$0.2b, 7.4%

Singapore
S$0.6b, 18.2%

Japan
S$0.2b, 5.2%

Europe
S$1.0b, 33%

USA
S$1.1b, 36.2%

Total: S$3.0 billion

Chart 10: Total Expected Employment Creation by Investments Secured
(1998 – 2007)

22.1

20.9

27.8

24.4

20.9

16.9

21.8

26.1

26.8

28.6

5

10

15

20

25

30

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

'000s

0

Chart 11: Expected Employment Generated by Manufacturing Investments, by Industry (2006-2007)

2006

General Manufacturing
Industries 1,100

Total: 16,200

Chemicals
800

Biomedical
Manufacturing
600

Electronics
7,400

Precision Engineering
1,900

Transport Engineering
4,400

2007

Total: 16,900

General Manufacturing
Industries 900

Electronics
6,200

Chemicals
1,040

Biomedical
Manufacturing
900

Precision
Engineering
3,000

Transport Engineering
4,840

	

Chart 12: Expected Employment Generated by Services Investments, by Industry (2006, 2007)

2006

Total: 10,600

Education
790

 

Engineering &
Environmental Services
1,450

 

HQ & Professional
Services
2,760

 

Logistics
2,740

InfoComms & Media
2,720

Healthcare Services
160

 

Healthcare Services
140

2007

Total: 11,700

InfoComms & Media
2,580

 

Logistics
2,400

HQ & Professional
Services 3,510

Engineering &
Environmental Services
2,100

 

Education
970

Chart 13:  Number of overseas companies from Asia Pacific ex Japan (2000 - 2007)

5,407

6,038

8,022

9,575

4,816

4,209

3,776

3,428

Annex B

HIGHLIGHTS OF PROJECTS SECURED IN 2007

Capital-Intensive Projects

ExxonMobil Chemical (US) is building its second world-scale petrochemical project in Singapore to meet the growing customer demands for petrochemical products in the region.  The new project, comprising a world-scale steam cracker and associated derivative units, will feature ExxonMobil's latest, state-of-the-art proprietary technologies.  Singapore will be the first location in the world where ExxonMobil produces large-scale commercial quantities of a new material featuring unprecedented elasticity and softness, with a wide range of applications.  Scheduled to start up in early 2011, the project will be fully integrated with the company's existing Singapore site, providing feedstock, operating and investment synergies with both the chemical plant and refinery. When the project is completed, Singapore will be host to the largest integrated chemical and refining site in the world for ExxonMobil.

Neste Oil (Finland) plans to invest approximately S$1.2 billion in building a plant in Singapore to produce NExBTL Renewable Diesel. The plant will have a design capacity of 800,000 t/a, making it the largest facility producing diesel fuel from renewable feedstocks anywhere.  The plant will be based on Neste Oil’s proprietary NExBTL technology – the first commercial new-generation renewable diesel production process, and can use any vegetable oil or animal fat as its input. The end-product, NExBTL Renewable Diesel, is a premium-quality fuel that outperforms conventional fossil diesel fuel and can be used as such in existing vehicles and be distributed in existing logistics systems.  Construction of the Singapore plant will begin in the first half of 2008 and is targeted to complete by end 2010.  When operational, the plant will employ around 100 people.

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis (Switzerland) unveiled plans for a new S$1 billion, large-scale biotechnology facility to support its growing pipeline of biopharmaceuticals. With the site expected to be completed by 2012, it will be the company's biggest single manufacturing investment.  At full capacity, it will employ 300 workers and will produce potential new products in biopharmaceutical therapies, primarily monoclonal antibodies, for indications such as rheumatoid arthritis, oncology, asthma and spinal chord injury.  This will be Singapore's largest vertically integrated investment.  Activities include process research & development, clinical-scale and commercial-scale manufacturing.

Significant Knowledge-Intensive Projects

Rolls-Royce (UK) has selected Singapore to locate its first civil aero-engine (Trent) assembly and test facility in Asia for the Boeing 787 (Trent 1000) and Airbus A350XWB (Trent XWB). It will be the first plant in Asia to manufacture engines for large commercial aircraft. The assembly techniques to be developed and used in this facility are at the forefront of Rolls-Royce's technological advances. Rolls-Royce will be investing approximately S$320 million and employing over 300 employees in this new facility. This landmark project represents a quantum leap for the aerospace industry in Singapore.  It will provide a boost to aerospace manufacturing and serve as a catalyst to attract other aerospace companies and suppliers to Singapore. It will also create exciting new job opportunities and significant spinoffs for other sectors such as logistics.

Heptagon Oy. (Switzerland) produces advanced optical products that are used in communications, lighting, and consumer electronics such as digital cameras and projectors. Its patented world’s first wafer-scale manufacturing process allows over a thousand plastic micro-optical lenses to be manufactured in a single wafer. The process will increase production output by about 20 times. The company recently chose Singapore to base its Regional Headquarters as well as its first manufacturing facility to be equipped with the state-of-the-art manufacturing process. The plant will also have design, research and testing facilities.

TNT’s (Netherlands) opened its largest life sciences-focused regional distribution centre in Singapore. Located near the Changi Airport, the Life Sciences Express Hub uses the latest in cold chain management technology to safely transport and store goods ranging from medical devices, clinical diagnostics to pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.  Leveraging Singapore’s central location and TNT’s extensive domestic, regional and global air and road network, life science customers will be able to send any item from this hub to their distributors, hospitals or clinics in any major city in Asia within 24 hours.  The centre is expected to handle in excess of US$100 million worth of medical equipment per year.

Sony (Japan) will be setting up a lithium ion polymer battery plant in Singapore, Sony’s first in the South East Asia region.  As an expansion of Sony’s lithium ion battery manufacturing capabilities, the company will establish Singapore’s first and only lithium ion polymer battery manufacturing plant, marking a major milestone for the local electronics industry.  The plant is scheduled to start operations in August 2008.

FormFactor (US), the world's largest manufacturer of wafer probe cards, has started building a 300,000 sq ft facility, making it one of the largest of its kind in the world. The company will introduce to Singapore its proprietary MEMS-based technology for wafer probe cards production. These wafer probe cards, each containing tens of thousands of MicroSprings® smaller than the width of a human hair, can carry out complex testing of semiconductor wafers.  The total investment of US$200 million will create 1,000 good jobs in Singapore in areas such as engineering, logistics and procurement. The company will also be setting up an R&D centre in Singapore to develop other new MEMS applications.

Philips Lumileds (Netherlands) set up its first overseas compound wafer fabrication facility to manufacture high power LUXEON Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) outside of Silicon Valley.  LUXEON LEDs are used in city beautification lighting, LCD displays, camera flash for mobile phones, automotive applications and various other applications.  Currently employing 150 people, the workforce will be expanded to 900 when the facility is operating at full capacity. This is the first such facility in Singapore.

Significant Innovation-Intensive Projects

PayPal (US), the world’s front runner in electronic payments, has selected Singapore to site its new international headquarters and technology development centre. The centre will develop payment solutions and technologies for the global market. PayPal plans to hire more than 200 technical professionals here in the next five years in the areas of product development, operations and infrastructure design, engineering and engineering support.

Infineon Technologies (Germany), a global semiconductor supplier for communications, automobile, security and industry applications, has the biggest R&D and Integrated Circuit (IC) design teams in Singapore. Infineon will be investing about $400 million in its R&D centre to build up R&D capabilities in the focus areas of process technologies for wafer fabrication and packaging, IC design and system architecture. The R&D team will grow to 550 engineers, including some 400 IC design engineers.

EMC (US), the world leader in information infrastructure solutions, opened its South Asia Development Laboratory in Singapore. The facility includes EMC’s first E-Lab™ outside North America, a lab for qualification of next generation digital storage solutions as well as a customer Proof-of-Concept centre. EMC plans to invest $250 million in Singapore by 2012 and will employ more than 100 engineers in the facility.

Bosch (Germany) opened its IT regional operations centre in Singapore and is providing IT services for over 200 locations in Asia Pacific. It is also establishing its Asia Pacific R&D headquarters here to carry out research in new areas. Bosch is investing $92 million in developing its operations in Singapore and plans to employ up to 500 staff - up from 200 employees in 2005. Bosch’s expansion in Singapore is planned to meet its challenges and future growth in the region.

Keppel Offshore & Marine (Singapore) launched its Technology Centre in December last year, announcing an investment of S$150 million over five years to extend and strengthen its current R&D initiatives undertaken by its technology units - Offshore Technology Development, Deepwater Technology Group and Marine Technology Group respectively. At steady state, the Centre will be staffed by about 100 highly-competent professionals, researchers and industry specialists.

New Areas of Growth

Renewable Energy Corporation ASA (REC) (Norway), a world leader in solar energy, is establishing the world’s largest integrated solar manufacturing complex in Singapore at a potential investment of $6.3 billion. This facility will incorporate wafer, cell and module production and when fully developed, could produce up to 1.5 gigawatts (GW) of solar products and hire up to 3,000 employees.

Oerlikon Solar (Switzerland), part of the Oerlikon Group which offers a wide range of solutions for high-tech manufacturing, will set up its first Asia solar cell equipment manufacturing plant in Singapore. The facility will also have a pilot line which will incorporate Oerlikon’s latest generation technology in thin-film solar and undertake R&D in solar manufacturing equipment. The S$35mil investment will create 100 jobs locally.

Solar Energy Power (Germany), has operationalised its solar cell manufacturing plant which is the first such plant in Singapore.  In the near term, SEP will be adding additional lines to increase the production capacity of this plant.

Keppel Corporation (Singapore) set up its global centre of excellence for water and environmental technology focusing on water/wastewater treatment and waste-to-energy. This R&D centre will help propel Keppel to become a global leader in environmental engineering.

Danish Hydraulics Institute (Denmark) established a R&D centre with Nanyang Environmental & Water Research Institute (NEWRI) in Nanyang Technological University (NTU) for the areas of industrial water management, urban planning & water management and solid waste.

Marmon (US) and Hyflux (Singapore) jointly set up a water R&D centre to develop new products to provide clean, filtered and softened water for Asian homes and commercial applications.

The Singapore Membrane Technology Centre which is Singapore’s first membrane-focused R&D centre was set up by NEWRI in NTU. It is led by world renowned membranes specialist Professor Tony Fane.

Mitsui & Co. (Japan) established its Asia Pacific Headquarters in Singapore, the first amongst Japan's top 5 Sogo-shoshas (major trading houses) to do so. It will offer HQ services to Mitsui's 14 major regional offices in Asia Pacific, hiring a total of 170 professionals by the end of Year 5.  The Singapore company will also be managing Mitsui's mining investments in Australia and future mines in the region. 

Minerals, Metals and Materials Technology Centre is Singapore’s first R&D centre dedicated towards the research and development of minerals and metals in areas such as high VA materials processing, new materials development and renew-ability and recycle-ability of materials. It was set up by NUS Engineering faculty.

GenoMar South East Asia Pte Ltd (Norway), a leading life sciences company specialising in aquatic species, has successfully developed the world's first genetic traceability system for fish in Singapore. This is a system that is able to provide physical evidence of a products origin without physical tagging or introduction of any trace chemicals.

Wipro Technologies (India) will be setting up its R&D and IC design centre to provide IC design service in Singapore.  It aims to make its Singapore project one of the largest third party IC design operations.

Tsinghua Tongfang (China) is a Chinese company spun off from one of the top universities in China – Tsinghua University, with businesses in information technology, energy and environment, as well as applied nuclear technology and biological medicine.  It opened its R&D centre in Singapore, the first such facility in Asia for them, outside of China. It will ramp up to 100 researchers, focusing on IT and environmental engineering.

Tamil Nadu Petroproducts (India) will be setting up a US$110 million petrochemical plant in Jurong Island to manufacture Normal Paraffin, which is a scarce component in detergents,  in a joint venture with Kuwait Finance House (Kuwait).  

MANPOWER INITIATIVES INTRODUCED IN 2007

Wafer Fabrication Specialist Manpower Programme (SMP)

EDB is investing S$8 million to train 900 wafer fabrication engineers over three years for the fast growing semiconductor industry in Singapore. Under this programme, EDB will work with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and National University of Singapore (NUS) to reach out to undergraduates in the schools of Electrical, Electronics, Mechanical, Materials and Chemical Engineering to encourage them to take up the specialisation in their final years. Varying levels of stipend will be offered to students, depending on the number of years of their specialisation.

Precision Engineering Manpower Initiative

Precision Engineering is the backbone of all complex manufacturing activities in Singapore.  It is a core enabler in many existing and new industries.  We recognized PE’s importance in the early 70s, when Singapore, together with partners from the industry and foreign governments, set up training institutes to equip our workforce with the vital formative PE skills for industrialization.  The PE industry has since constantly upgraded and re-equipped its manpower to meet the increasing challenges of today. To that end, EDB and SPRING, in partnership with WDA, NYP and Singapore Precision Engineering & Tooling Association (SPETA), launched a S$76-million PE manpower initiative. Under this initiative, two new programmes were introduced - (i) National PE Scholarship Programme (Pre-Employment Training) and (ii) National PE Specialist Programme (Continual Education & Training). These two programmes target to train 2,000 candidates over the next 5 years with cutting-edge precision engineering skills and capabilities.

Clean Energy Scholarships

To expand Clean Energy R&D and grow the industry, there is a need to increase the Clean Energy manpower base in Singapore. In terms of manpower development, the S$25 million programme for clean energy scholarships aims to sponsor some 130 students over five years in post-graduate degrees relevant to the sector.  These scholarships will develop future leaders for Singapore’s fledgling Clean Energy sector.  There are two specific scholarship programmes - the NRF (Clean Energy) PhD Scholarships, which is wholly supported by the government, and the NRF (Clean Energy) Company Scholarships, which involve the sharing of training costs between the government and the industry.