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27 November 2002
Speech by Mr Teo Ming Kian, Chairman Economic Development Board at the Official Opening of Invensys New Headquarters Building on Wednesday 27 November 2002 at 10:30 am, Changi Business Park
Mr Rick Haythornthwaite, CEO, Invensys Plc,
Mr Lee Weng Chong, President, Asia Pacific, Invensys Software Systems,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
- Good morning. I am very pleased to be here this morning for the opening of Invensys' new Asia Pacific Headquarters building. Today marks a new milestone in the strategic partnership between Singapore and Invensys, dating back to 1977 when Foxboro first set up its operations in Singapore.
- With operations in over 400 sites employing more than 50,000 people, Invensys is one of the world's largest engineering and environmental services company. I am glad that Invensys has chosen Singapore as the location to site its Asia Pacific Headquarters for its Production Management Division. This is one of Invensys' core business divisions. It speaks of the company's confidence and trust in Singapore's long-term competitiveness, despite the uncertainties during the current economic slowdown.
Singapore as Asia's leading services provider
- The recent Economic Review Committee sub-committee on Services has reaffirmed that Singapore can be Asia's leading provider of world-class exportable services. As manufacturing and services remain the twin engines of Singapore's economy, we will reinvent and reposition the services industries to increase their contribution to our GDP. With the increasing trend of manufacturing companies providing total solutions to their clients, the demarcation between manufacturing and services has become less distinct. A manufacturing company can also be a service provider. This could unleash a huge potential - the large pool of manufacturing companies in Singapore can potentially expand our services sector significantly.
- Invensys is a good example. From primarily a manufacturing company, Invensys has transformed itself into a total solutions provider, providing integrated solutions in production management, ranging from instrumentation control to Enterprise Resource Planning software.
Singapore as the regional launchpad for Engineering and Environmental Services companies
- By locating its Production Management Asia-Pacific Headquarters in Singapore, Invensys can leverage on Singapore's connectivity to the fast-growing Asian market to export its solutions and services to serve the larger engineering and environmental technology markets of the region. Singapore is an excellent gateway and springboard for companies planning to expand operations in the region. Using Singapore as their base, companies can site high value-added technologies and services here and market their engineering and environmental technology expertise and services to the region.
- For example, this new building that we are in today is a consolidation of Invensys' operations in Singapore. It makes it possible for the various business entities and activities to synergise their operations in one single location. It will serve as the Asia-Pacific command post for Invensys' Production Management Division.
- This highly sophisticated intelligent building houses a Global Remote Diagnostics Centre, one of Invensys' three global customer satisfaction centres. The other two are located in the US and Europe. These centres are responsible for providing technical support to Invensys' production and energy systems installed worldwide. Adopting a 'follow-the-sun' concept, the centres will ensure that customers around the world enjoy 24 / 7, round-the-clock support.
- This facility also houses one of the largest product staging areas in the region to meet the increasing demands for turnkey solutions. With a substantial product staging area, Invensys Singapore can undertake the entire value chain of massive process automation turnkey projects for clients in the region. This is in line with the strategy to develop Singapore into a one-stop solution centre for Engineering and Environmental Technology services.
- Demand for such services will grow. EDB will intensify its efforts to promote this industry and work closely with the industry partners to strengthen their presence in Singapore. We hope that more Engineering and Environmental Technology companies will base their business and regional headquarters in Singapore to conduct a full spectrum of high value-added activities locally. From conducting R&D and test-bedding activities; to engineering new cutting-edge product design to holding product charters, Singapore can be the regional nerve centre for this industry.
Closing
- Today's opening is an important development for Invensys Singapore. It has certainly proven itself to be a key part of Invensys' group of companies. I congratulate Mr Rick Haythornthwaite, Mr Lee and their dynamic team, who are positioning Invensys well to take advantage of the growth in Asia. As they work towards greater excellence in service and technology, I am confident that Invensys will continue to grow with Singapore in the years ahead. Indeed it is my great pleasure now to officially open this facility. Thank you.
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