SPEECH BY MR LIM HNG
KIANG, MINISTER FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, AT THE GROUNDBREAKING
CEREMONY OF LANXESS’ NEW BUTYL RUBBER PLANT ON 17 MAY, 10AM AT
TEMBUSU, JURONG ISLAND
Dr Axel Heitmann, Chairman
of the Board of Management, Lanxess AG
Dr Werner Breuers, Member of
the Board of Management, Lanxess AG
Distinguished
guests
Ladies and
gentlemen
Good
Morning.
Introduction
It is my pleasure to join you today to
celebrate the groundbreaking of Lanxess’ new Butyl Rubber plant on
Jurong Island.
Emerging Opportunities in
Asia
I understand this plant is Lanxess’ single largest
ever investment globally. It reflects the positive growth trends in
Asia as well as growing awareness amongst global companies of the
emerging opportunities in Asia. I also welcome Lanxess’ decision to
relocate its Butyl Rubber Global Headquarters and its top
management team to Singapore. It affirms Singapore's value as a
strategic vantage point in the region for global companies. We
offer a very conducive environment for global companies seeking a
home base from which to tap into the emerging
markets of
Asia.
Chemical Industry in
Singapore – Preparing for the Next Phase of
Growth
Lanxess’ new investments in Singapore gives
further diversity to Singapore’s chemical sector.As a key driver of
our economy, the chemical sector contributes about one third of
Singapore’s total manufacturing output in 2009.This has helped to
make us a leading global energy and chemicals hub. To maintain this
lead, we will be embarking on the “Jurong Island version 2.0”
initiative. A key strength of our chemical sector has been its
seamless integrated ecosystem from feedstock through to logistics
and utilities services. This initiativewill further enhance the infrastructural developments on Jurong Island. It
was developed in close partnership with the industry and will
focus on areas such as system-level energy efficiency solutions and
new competitive feedstock and logistics options. It will also look
into optimising the use of valuable resources such as energy, land,
and
water.
A key reason Lanxess is basing its new Butyl
Rubber plant in Singapore, as Dr Heitmann has said, is because we
have a superior workforce. Indeed, for our chemical sector to
continue to grow, we will ensure there is a sufficient
highly-skilled talent pool in Singapore. This is essential for
companies such as Lanxess that seek to introduce complex
“first-of-its-kind” production facilities in Singapore. Through our
schools and institutions like the Chemical Process Technology
Centre (“CPTC”), we continue to train and equip future generations
of workers with the necessary skills and knowledge to meet the
demands of the chemical industry.
Growing the Specialty
Chemical Sector
We will also focus on growing the specialty
chemical sector.Last year, this sector contributed more than half
of the chemical cluster’s total value-added. It is a key sector
that will be instrumental in moving the chemical industry higher up
the value chain. Earlier this year, the government made a
commitment to grow R&D spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP over the next five
years.This bodes well for the specialty chemical sector with its strong
focus on R&D to create new products and solutions.Companies
in the specialties chemical sector can also tap on partnerships with research
institutes such as the Institute of Chemical and Engineering
Sciences (“ICES”).
The outlook for our specialty chemical sector also looks extremely promising. We are located in
region with fast growing demand for more specialty and higher value
chemicals and polymers. Lanxess’ Butyl Rubber is one good example of a
high-value added specialties product in high demand.It is an
essential component used in the manufacturing of products such as
high performance tyres which Asia’s growing automotive market
needs. Indeed, Lanxess’ plant in Singapore is a key milestone in our plans to grow the
specialty chemical sector. It will be the largest Butyl Rubber manufacturing
facility in Asia and will make Singapore a key supplier of Butyl Rubber to the
region.
Conclusion
In closing, I would like to
extend my heartiest congratulations to the management and staff of
Lanxess on the groundbreaking of the Butyl Rubber plant.We are
happy to have a partner like Lanxess who continues to take a
long-term view on your investments. Thank you for your trust and
confidence in Singapore. I wish Lanxess every success in the
execution of this project.
Thank
you.