Mr Lee Yi Shyan at the Opening Ceremony of Rohde & Schwarz Asia Pacific Headquarters at Changi Business Park Central 2

SPEECH BY MINISTER-OF-STATE (T&I) LEE YI SHYAN AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF ROHDE & SCHWARZ ASIA PACIFIC HEADQUARTERS AT CHANGIBUSINESSPARK CENTRAL 2 ON FRIDAY, 18 APRIL 2008 AT 11:15AM

Mr Michael Vohrer
President and CEO, Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co

Dr Erich Freund

Chairman Rohde & Schwarz Asia Pacific

Mr Lim Boon Huat

Managing Director Rohde & Schwarz Systems & Communications Asia Pte Ltd

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good morning

Introduction

It is my great pleasure to be here today to officiate the opening of the Rohde & Schwarz Asia Pacific Headquarters in conjunction with its 75th anniversary celebrations.

In 1997, Rohde & Schwarz established its first footprint outside of Germany in Singapore. From a technical support centre, Rohde & Schwarz has expanded its activities in Singapore to include Regional Headquarters and R&D activities.We thank Rohde & Schwarz for its confidence in Singapore.

Rohde & Schwarz has a long history of emphasising innovation and excellence, which are the values we embrace too.Since your founding in 1933, you have transformed yourself to become a leading supplier of solutions in the fields of test and measurement, broadcasting and radio communications technology.

Likewise, Singapore is continuing to reinvent and transform itself to stay ahead of the global competition. This is also the reason why we are investing heavily in our R&D infrastructure.

Singapore – The technology hub of Asia

Singapore aims to increase our R&D expenditure to 3% of GDP by 2010, or $7.5 billion per annum, with two-thirds of this being privately funded research. By doing so, we hope to be an attractive hub for companies to base their manufacturing and R&D centre.

Recently, Oerlikon a world-leading supplier of equipment for making solar cells, based in Switzerland, has chosen Singapore as the location for its Asian hub for manufacturing and R&D. This project is Oerlikon’s first facility in Asia that will develop, assemble and test its advanced solar cell equipment.

On the public front, A*STAR oversees a 3,000-man research community in 14 research institutions. A*STAR has forged many successful partnerships with renowned universities and R&D organizations across 25 countries over the last 5 years.

For instance, EADS, a global leader in aerospace and defence, has recently signed a partnership agreement with A*STAR to investigate and develop research projects in aerospace technologies.

To encourage more start-up enterprises to undertake R&D activities, we introduced three broad-based tax incentives in our national budget this year.Firstly, an R&D Incentive for Start-Up Enterprises to allow qualifying start-ups to convert their losses into a cash grant of up to $20,000. Secondly, an R&D tax allowance of up to 50% of the first $300,000 of company’s chargeable income. Thirdly, an enhanced deduction of R&D expenses from 100% to 150%.

Singapore’s Commitment to Continual Development of Manpower Skills and Capabilities

R&D operations required well-trained manpower. As we attract such high-value projects to Singapore, we continue to invest in developing local talent to meet industry requirements.

Last year, we introduced several manpower initiatives including the Wafer Fabrication Specialist Manpower Programme, which funds the training of semiconductor engineers in tertiary institutions; the Precision Engineering Manpower Initiative, which funds precision engineering training at local polytechnics and institutes of technical education; and the Clean Energy Scholarship, which grooms future leaders for the local sector by sponsoring their postgraduate studies here and abroad. At $65 million, these three programmes aim to train over 2000 skilled manpower over the next three years.

I am therefore delighted to learn that Rohde & Schwarz has launched an annual scholarship programme with NanyangTechnologicalUniversity and National University of Singapore. The programme will fully fund a scholar from each university to undertake a one-year Masters programme in Engineering at the Technical University Munchen, Germany.

Rohde & Schwarz has also invited students from our local universities to participate in their annual engineering competition. The winning team from Singapore would compete in Munich with their counterparts from Germany in June 2008.

Conclusion

I thank Rohde & Schwarz for your trust and confidence in Singapore. My heartfelt congratulations again to the management and staff of Rohde & Schwarz on the opening ceremony of its Asia Pacific Headquarters and celebrations of 75 years of success.I wish you many more good years ahead and look forward to a long and fruitful partnership.

Thank you.