SPEECH BY MS AW KAH PENG, ASSISTANT MANAGING DIRECTOR, INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT, SINGAPORE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BOARD AT THE OPENING CEREMONY FOR ADVANCED MEDICAL OPTICS’ ASIA PACIFIC TECHNICAL, TRAINING AND EDUCATION CENTRE ON WEDNESDAY, 15 OCTOBER 2008 AT 9:30AM

Mr Angelo Rago, Senior Vice President, Global Customer Service,
Management and staff of AMO’s Asia-Pacific team,
Ladies and Gentlemen, Good morning,

1. I am pleased to join you today for the opening of AMO’s (pronounced “A”, “M”, “O”) Asia Pacific Technical, Training and Education Centre.
   
   
2. AMO is a world leader in ophthalmic care with products ranging from contact lens solution to refractive surgery and cataract solutions. These products have a significant impact in helping to improve our vision and in enabling us to pursue active lifestyles, free of visual ailment.
   
   
3. AMO first established its Asia Pacific regional headquarters in Singapore in 2005. It was awarded EDB's International HQ award and now employs over 90 trained professionals who carry out high value-added activities such as regional business leadership, planning and development; and, regional functions such as financial, IT and regulatory management.
   
   
4. Today, AMO is taking yet another step forward by opening its new Asia Pacific training centre in Singapore. This centre is the largest training facility outside of the U.S., and will be staffed by highly skilled trainers. It is expected to train a combined total of more than a hundred vision care specialists and engineers from Asia every year. The centre will offer training in state-of-the-art procedures for cataract surgery as well as those for LASIK laser corrective surgery.
   
   Strong Vision Care Capabilities in Singapore
   
   
5. Indeed, Singaporeans are beset by a variety of visual ailments ranging from an unusually high incidence of myopia among our young, to cataract that will eventually afflict our elderly. As such, it is not surprising that we are particularly interested in Vision Care and as a country, have invested heavily in this area. Today, the Singapore National Eye Centre is an undisputed regional leader in ophthalmology, with an annual patient load of approximately 14,000 major eye surgeries and 13,000 laser procedures.
   
   
6. While leveraging our world-class clinical excellence, Singapore is also making strides in advancing the frontiers of Vision Care through our R&D efforts. For example, in May this year, the Singapore Eye Research Institute, the research arm of the Singapore National Eye Centre, was awarded a S$25 million Translational and Clinical Research grant from the Ministry of Health (MOH) and A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research). Their efforts will combine our knowledge of the Asian patient base with scientific and clinical excellence to develop novel anti-scarring and wound management treatment specific to Asian populations. In addition, Vision Care companies such as Essilor and NeuroVision have recognized our capabilities and have established product development R&D centres in Singapore.
   
   
7. On a related front, Singapore is also building a track record in manufacturing Vision Care products. Leading MNCs have established commercial-scale manufacturing plants that have passed increasingly stringent regulatory requirements for global markets such as those in the US, Europe, Japan and the rest of Asia. Every year, these plants produce thousands of intra-ocular lenses for treating cataract and millions of disposable and coloured contact lenses. In the near future, we will also be manufacturing ophthalmic drugs.
   
   
8. We believe that Singapore can expand our Vision Care manufacturing capabilities to include ophthalmic surgical devices such as AMO’s LASIK devices. We know that AMO’s devices, above all, embody quality, reliability and precision. These are all attributes that play to the strengths of Singapore’s workforce. For examples, highly precise mass spectrometers manufactured in Singapore have measurement error rates of less than 0.5% . In addition, our supplier base of certified Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) companies as well as precision plastics and precision metal players are capable of supporting companies like AMO with the necessary precision components. As such, even as we celebrate a new milestone in the AMO-Singapore partnership today, we urge AMO to take a closer look at Singapore for manufacturing.
   
   Conclusion
   
   
9. Vision Care is a growth sector not just for Singapore but for Asia. EDB looks forward to tapping the potential in this growth market with our valued partners such as AMO.
   
   
10. In closing, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the management and staff of AMO on the opening of their Asia Pacific Technical, Training and Education Centre. I wish you every success.
    
    
11. Thank you.