- 8 March 2011
SMU to have $60m analytics research centre
The Singapore Management University, in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University in the US, is setting up the $60 million Living Analytics Research Centre. The facility, touted to be one of the world’s pre-eminent centres of excellence in computational social science, will develop new techniques to acquire data on consumer and social behaviour, and pioneer new approaches to analyse such data.
- 7 March 2011
German drug firm looks to lift headcount
German pharmaceutical firm Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) is on the prowl for more headcount for its regional headquarters in Singapore, with a view to support the growing amount of clinical research work done in the Asia-Pacific. According to BI regional director for South-east Asia Augusto Muench, his company grew by 15 employees last year to about 100. This year, he expects to hire 10. Most of the job functions will require expertise related to the coordination of clinical trials in the region. ‘Being a research-based company, this is one of our key areas of focus, where we expect to concentrate resources on,’ Mr Muench said. ‘They include phase two, phase three clinical trials, putting in the quality assurance for those trials and following up with clinical research monitors for the whole region, all coordinated from Singapore.’
- 5 March 2011
MediaTek to expand operations in S’pore
Taiwanese tech giant MediaTek is looking to double its headcount in Singapore over the next couple of years as part of a $120 million expansion plan. The firm first set up shop here in 2004, and has since invested more than $100million in salaries, testing equipment, and software for the Singapore outfit. MediaTek chief executive Tsai Ming Kai said the investment had been ‘very wise’, and prompted the firm’s decision to sharply increase its spending in Singapore. ‘I am extremely pleased to announce that MediaTek intends to invest a further $120million in our Singapore operations and to grow our team to over 250 people over the coming few years,’ said Mr Tsai. The new hires, expected to be in largely graduate and post-graduate positions, will allow MediaTek to ‘greatly expand our capabilities in R&D, integrated chip design, and customer service and support’, he added.
JP Morgan expanding global corporate banking in Asia
JP Morgan is ramping up its global corporate bank in the region with additional hires to get a bigger market share in a rising Asia. About 40 of those will be in Asia, with South-east Asia accounting for the larger proportion of new hires. JP Morgan in Singapore has more than 1,300 staff, up 20 per cent from a year ago. Singapore today has 8-10 global corporate bankers and the plan is to increase 30-40 per cent, said Muhammad Aurangzeb, CEO of its global corporate bank in Asia-Pacific.
- 3 March 2011
Menicon to make contact lenses here for global market
Menicon Singapore, a subsidiary of Japanese contact lens manufacturer Menicon Co, has set up a $123 million manufacturing facility in the city-state, its first major production and R&D centre outside of Japan. ‘Our new facility in Singapore will be our base for developing technologies and products with advanced, value-added features to help us gain more market share,’ said Menicon Co CEO Hidenari Tanaka. The company – which is one of 2,700 Japanese companies with operations here – has a headcount of about 80 staff in Singapore.
- 26 February 2011
Western Digital back with a bang in S’pore
US-based disk-drive maker Western Digital (WD) is making a grand re-entry into Singapore by investing S$500 million over the next five years on various projects. The company’s chief operating officer Tim Leyden said the investment will include the expansion of the Hoya magnetic media factory and the establishment of an HDD (hard disk drive) R&D centre in the Republic. Mr Leyden said that WD will leverage on the local talent pool and expertise of research organisations, such as Singapore’s A*Star Data Storage Institute (DSI) and universities in the development of advanced hard drive technologies. Singapore has built a wealth of engineering talent, which will now be available to WD, said Mr Leyden. ‘This is a product of a supportive government, R&D resources from DSI and universities, and a long history of hard drive industry manufacturing and engineering operations in the country. The resulting environment has produced an advanced technology research and human resource culture that makes Singapore an ideal location for WD investments.’
- 23 February 2011
Bumper year ahead for semicon equipment makers
According to latest numbers released by the global industry body SEMI, semiconductor equipment manufacturing in Singapore is expected to go up by 40% year-on-year in 2011. Terry Tsao, president of SEMI South-east Asia, said: ‘Singapore has grown to be one of the important international hubs in Asia for finance and manufacturing. The country is also becoming an Asian hub for semiconductor equipment makers as companies move more manufacturing out of the West and relocate to Asia.’ Singapore is home to 14 silicon wafer fabrication plants, 20 assembly and test operations, and about 40 integrated circuit (IC) design centres. The world’s top three foundry companies have operations here as do the top five assembly and test subcontractor companies and nine of the world’s top 10 fabless IC design companies.
- 21 February 2011
First mobility lab in S’pore
HCL Technologies (HCLT), one of India’s largest IT services providers for global companies, has opened its enterprise mobility laboratory in Singapore – the company’s first such facility for mobile apps development. The lab will focus on developing innovative mobility-based solutions for enterprises in sectors such as airlines, retail chains, banks, consumer goods, and media and entertainment. ‘This lab reflects the strategic importance of the Singapore market in our growth strategy. We’re committed to a long-term investment in Singapore,’ HCLT’s vice-chairman and CEO Vineet Nayar said. Singapore is HCLT’s HQ for all geographies outside of the Americas, Europe and India and has more than 1,000 employees.
- 16 February 2011
Rolls-Royce opens global marine HQ
British engine and power systems giant Rolls-Royce is in a midst of constructing a new $700 million facility at Seletar Aerospace Park in Singapore. The facility will house Rolls-Royce’s regional campus for technical training, a Trent aero-engine assembly and test centre, and a manufacturing unit to make fan blades for the Trent engines, the first such facility outside Britain. Rolls-Royce focuses on Singapore as a place to be located in for the long term with many of its senior management based here, and about US$6 billion (S$7.7 billion) of the company’s total revenue is run out of Singapore.
Breakthrough in fight against chikungunya
Scientists from the Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN) and French biopharmaceutical company Vivalis have moved a step closer to developing a treatment for chikungunya, a disease spread by the Aedes mosquito. They have discovered two monoclonal antibodies which could neutralise several chikungunya strains in a laboratory setting. SIgN chairman Philippe Kourilsky said: ‘The combination of Vivalis’ Humalex technology, SIgN’s expertise in human immunology, virology and molecular biology, and Singapore’s location as a hub for Asia helped to speed up the selection, sequencing and characterisation of the most potent antibody candidates.’
- November 2010
Singapore – A global talent capital
Aside from being one of the world's most liveable cities, Singapore boasts a creative and diverse workforce that has attracted many global companies to set up regional headquarters and R&D centres here. The government has partnered these companies to ensure that they have the right talent and skills to grow their operations.
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