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Speech by Mr Lee Kuan Yew,Minister Mentor, at Yokogawa Electric Corp Singapore's new building opening ceremony, 3 July 2007, 12.15 pm at Bedok South
His Excellency Takaaki Kojima, Japan Ambassador to Singapore
Mr Isao Uchida, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Yokogawa Electric Corp.
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen
I am happy to be here for the opening of the Yokogawa Electric Corp’s New Building in Singapore. Mr Uchida was the MD of Yokogawa’s Singapore operations in the early 70s. He has been a strong supporter of many Singapore-Japan initiatives such as the Japan-Singapore Training Centre.
A brightening Asia
Japan has got back on to a new growth path. ASEAN too has recovered from the Asian Financial Crisis.
With China and India making 8-10% growth per annum, other countries in East Asia are enjoying additional growth. East Asia is forecasted to be the fastest growing region in the world. Japan, the second largest economy in the world with its high technology and many innovative companies, will remain an important actor in Asia and the world.
The Japan-Singapore combination through the years
Japan had been the key source of investments, capital and technology for Singapore. It is also a major export market for Singapore. Japan is one of Singapore’s top three foreign investors and top five trading partners. In the last 10 years, Japanese companies have invested more than 19 billion Singapore dollars in Fixed Asset Investment in Singapore. The Japan-Singapore Economic Agreement for a New Age Partnership (JSEPA), the first Japan had signed with any country in 2002, was reviewed this year to bring about greater liberalisation in trade in goods and services.
Japanese companies should go beyond seeing Singapore as a lower cost production base, and instead see Singapore as a “value-creation” solution, as other multinationals from the US and Europe have done and have expanded their operations here. Singapore will develop and refine our value proposition to be part of the global expansion strategy of Japanese and other MNCs. Singapore’s economic strategy builds on our “East plus West” formula to add four pillars of “Trust”, “Knowledge”, “Connected” and “Life”.
Yokogawa – evolving with Singapore
Yokogawa has gradually raised its investments and enlarged its operations here. In 2000, when it introduced its VISION-21 and ACTION-21 corporate strategy to improve its business and revitalise the Group’s management efficiency, Singapore was integral to its plan.
Yokogawa chose to site its global headquarters in Singapore for its Industrial Automation business. Singapore became the global production centre of its Distributed Control Systems. Yokogawa is one of the few Japanese companies to put its intellectual property outside Japan.
Yokogawa has declared that it wants to make Singapore its ‘nucleus’ for global engineering and manufacturing, and ‘co-centre’ for global R&D by 2010. We will ensure that Singapore deserves Yokogawa’s trust and confidence.
Singapore as a future growth channel for Japanese companies
Singapore’s manufacturing sector remains a crucial part of our economy. Manufacturing share of Singapore’s GDP has been growing from 25% in 2004 to 27% in 2005 and 28% in 2006.
2,800 Japanese companies are in Singapore from electronics, precision engineering, chemicals and transport engineering. Japanese companies, like Yokogawa, have also expanded across the whole business value chain, from R&D to manufacturing to headquarters and supply chain management.
Yokogawa has shown that it has the strategy and capability to internationalise successfully. Today’s event celebrates a significant milestone in your history.
Singapore has a well trained workforce and managers and engineers who understand ‘the Japanese way’ and can help Japanese MNCs to complement their own high-cost managers and engineers.
R&D and innovation will decide which economies will stay on top. Like Japan and Yokogawa, Singapore also emphasises R&D and innovation. By 2010, our target for R&D spending will be 3% of our GDP, compared to 2.4% in 2005. This level will exceed those of several developed countries like Ireland. Newer sectors like water, digital media, and clean energy are being developed. We are upgrading our research capabilities and strengthening the relationship between industry and our research institutes. A holistic approach to R&D needs a robust framework, as well as respect for the protection of intellectual property.
I hope more Japanese companies will follow Yokogawa’s policy of partnering Singapore by upgrading their operations here. I wish Yokogawa many more successful years ahead.
Thank you.
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