Mr Brian Tan, Chairman, Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association (SSIA)

 

Mr Ang Wee Seng, Executive Director, SSIA

 

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

 

Thank you SSIA, for having me back. I supported one of the first SSIA Semiconductor Business Connect during COVID-19. As far as I can every year, I try to support this event and the SSIA Electronics Industry Day. Today, I will focus a bit more on Singapore’s role in the global semiconductor space, how we are doing and what we are doing to support the growth of the semiconductor ecosystem in Singapore. 

 

2. This year marks SSIA’s 20th anniversary. Happy 20th birthday. Since its inception, SSIA has been pivotal in advancing our semiconductor industry’s interests. Through initiatives like Electronics Industry Day, SSIA is constantly involved in new programmes, both from getting new students within the sector, and getting SMEs involved in the ecosystem. These are key initiatives that will help to grow the sector.

 

3. I will pose this question: Why Singapore? Why is Singapore so important in this and what we are doing to support SSIA as well as implementing in this industry. Why Singapore? 

 

a. First, I use the terms safe and trusted, as mentioned by Chairman, SSIA. In a global tumult, things move very quickly. So we are constantly looking at how the situation changes. But in tumult and in periods of uncertainty, businesses value safety and trust, and that is what the Singapore brand offers.

 

b. The second is a strong ecosystem and infrastructure. I will go into that in detail – infrastructure, policy, and talent. We are growing talent through SSIA as well and also a strong supply chain that has both MNCs and SMEs working side by side and in concert together. 

 

c. The third is government support. Given that today’s theme focuses on three areas, let me go into these three areas and illustrate why I am trying to say: Why Singapore?

 

Intelligent Manufacturing

 

4. First, I will focus on intelligent manufacturing. The semiconductor industry is at the forefront of innovation, as the demand for chips and technology is growing all the time. We need to develop smaller, faster, and better chips year after year. We mentioned earlier the constant evolution of these chips and how different companies need to constantly evolve to produce these chips. That is why some companies do not hold that much inventory, because if you hold too much inventory, then the chips might go obsolete. So that is the nature of the semiconductor and chips sector. So what then is the Singapore government doing in this aspect? Building on these efforts, we just launched the National Semiconductor Translation and Innovation Centre for Gallium Nitride (GaN). This centre will support R&D and prototype manufacturing for GaN semiconductors, which is a new semiconductor tech used in 5G and 6G communication systems, radars, and satellites. If you are interest in this space, want to learn, or a veteran in this space, please do reach out to the centre foropportunities to explore how you can work with us in this particular area.  

 

5. But innovation is not what we build, but how we build. The highly intricate process of developing and manufacturing a chip provides many use cases for automation and artificial intelligence (AI). 

 

a. Whether it be process optimisation or quality control, the semiconductor industry will continuously find ways to harness such technologies to improve productivity, shorten chip development cycles, and speed up time-to-market. 

 

b. Notably, Singapore is home to two semiconductor manufacturing facilities by Micron and Infineon that the World Economic Forum has recognised as Industry 4.0 Lighthouses. 

 

c. We are encouraged by this and are motivated to do more.

 

6. To support AI adoption, government is adopting a two-pronged approach.

 

a. First, we will partner manufacturing companies to set up AI Centres of Excellence (CoE) in Singapore. These COEs are dedicated functions to better understand and use AI for practical purposes. For example, in the semiconductor industry, GlobalFoundries has established its own CoE to drive digitalisation and AI efforts, with the support of Digital Industry Singapore. We will continue to work with like-minded partners to grow such capabilities here.

 

b. We also launched the Sectoral AI CoE for Manufacturing, or AIMfg (pronounced AIM) last year, to bring together common use cases like predictive maintenance and work with companies to develop AI solutions. We have since onboarded over 13 manufacturing companies as co-innovation partners and I strongly encourage many of you to join us, learn about this and participate in these efforts.

 

Sustainability

 

7. The second pivot we will explore today is on sustainability. Our semiconductor industry is energy-intensive. But this also means small efforts will have outsized impact. 

 

a. Globally, there is a strong impetus for semiconductor companies to decarbonise. In Singapore, companies are commencing efforts in carbon abatement, resource recycling, and adopting renewable energy. And the government is supporting them through schemes like our Resource Efficiency Grant for Emissions and also the Enterprise Sustainability Programme.

 

8. SSIA also actively promotes sustainable manufacturing practices and helps proliferate green initiatives across the entire semiconductor value chain. 

 

a. In fact, SSIA formed your Singapore Semiconductor Sustainability Committee 2 years ago, with partners like Micron, to help more companies adopt sustainable solutions by identifying pain points, translate problem statements to use cases and find solutions. This will help our local companies benefit from sustainable manufacturing.

 

9. SSIA can also connect sustainability solution providers and adopters to actively deploy solutions on the ground.

 

Supply Chain Resilience

 

10. For now, many of us are concerned across different sectors and different parts of the economy and supply chain resilience. The semiconductor industry relies on highly globalised supply chains and benefits from open access to markets worldwide. Companies will benefit if they work with policymakers to respond quickly to navigate the current global uncertainty. 

 

11. SSIA is a strong interlocutor to channel feedback from industry to policymakers. You have provided feedback to us and over the years, even during COVID-19 times, we have acted swiftly and decisively. An example is the industry Pulse Survey on US Tariffs that you conducted in April where you collected responses from over 100 companies. These companies shared their concerns around demand disruption, compliance costs and supply chain volatility. I want to assure every single member, that the Singapore government hearsyou, and is in constant contact with the industry. You may have heard that Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong has set up and chairs the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce. We are constantly in touch with different sectors of the economy and getting your feedback and exploring ways to better support the industries.

 

12. SSIA is also helping us in this regard, by takingstock of the ecosystem landscape of the semiconductor industry. I look forward to hearing some of the findings in your recent Singapore Semiconductor Industry Landscape Study with Frost & Sullivan.

 

13. I wanted to assure everybody that our government is optimistic about long-term trends such as AI, electrification and next-gen wireless communications (e.g. 6G). We believe these technologies will drive demand for semiconductors.

 

14. To hedge against supply chain disruptions, we must be “glocal”. What is “glocal”? It is global and local, but to be precise, with our global semiconductor companies building a network of trusted local SME suppliers, and our local SMEs using these opportunities to internationalise and support these global semiconductor companies in the region. 

 

a. The government is right behind you, with efforts such as our Partnerships for Capability Transformation (PACT) grant, which defrays some of the costs incurred by companies for supplier development, internationalisation, and co-innovation. 

 

b. Please use PACT and approach my colleagues at EDB and Enterprise Singapore to learn more. 

 

Conclusion

 

15. Thank you very much for listening to me. I will summarise what I have been saying. Why Singapore? Well, we continue to believe strongly in the semiconductor sector. We continue to play an important role in global semiconductor supply chain. We are trusted, we have a strong ecosystem and government. Thank you very much.