Mr Lim Hng Kiang at the Groundbreaking Ceremony of Fusionopolis Phase 2A Site, Ayer Rajah Avenue

SPEECH BY MR LIM HNG KIANG, MINISTER FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY AT THE GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY OF FUSIONOPOLIS PHASE 2A SITE, AYER RAJAH AVENUE ON WEDNESDAY 6 DECEMBER 2006 AT 11.05 AM

Friends, Ladies and Gentleman

Good morning.

I am delighted to join all of you this morning for the groundbreaking of Fusionopolis Phase 2A at one-north.

Fusionopolis is Singapore’s focal point for the Physical Sciences and Engineering.Masterplanned and developed by JTC, it will be a place where the world’s talent, international setups and the local technology community can come together to create new ideas, innovations and breakthroughs to create future industries, generate employment and help put Singapore on the world Science map.

When fully completed, Fusionopolis will cover some 30 hectares and be a Science and Technology powerhouse with integrated capabilities from the six research institutes (RIs) of A*STAR’s Science and Engineering Research Council or SERC for short. A key feature of Fusionopolis is the co-location of private and public sector research labs, allowing private industries and public research institutes to work together to foster innovation, experimentation and collaboration in a vibrant R&D environment.

This strategy of co-location was first pioneered with much success in Biopolis. Exactly five years ago, JTC broke ground for the development of Biopolis – the first key development in one-north.Today, Biopolis is a vibrant cluster of nine state-of-the-art buildings and has attracted international scientists and biomedical companies to conduct cutting edge research in Singapore.

Fusionopolis has met with a similar good response.A*STAR, JTC, EDB, and MDA, with their parent ministries, MTI and MICA, have jointly developed the positioning and marketing of Fusionopolis.Fusionopolis Phase 1, which is the development you see on your way in, is almost fully taken up.The strong demand for space even before Phase 1 has been completed has encouraged JTC to embark on Phase 2A.

The development of Fusionopolis Phase 2B, which will be adjacent to Phase 2A (where we are now), will be earmarked for industry tenants. JTC will invite private developers to develop Fusionopolis Phase 2B.I understand that there have already been many enquiries from industry regarding about space availability in Fusionopolis.

A*STAR as anchor tenant at Fusionopolis Phase 2A

The S$250 million Phase 2A development will house state-of-the-art interdisciplinary labs and facilities for A*STAR’s Science and Engineering research institutes.

These facilities will be available for companies to tap into, enabling them to springboard to a much higher level of R&D while reducing their need for heavy investment in equipment or facilities. There are many industry guests in our midst today. I strongly encourage you to leverage on the technology platforms and the integrated expertise available from across multiple research institutes.

Fusionopolis is for Singapore’s future

To evolve Fusionopolis into a vibrant science city, JTC has plans to host many supporting services with retail outlets and serviced apartments. It will be home to industry researchers as well as some 1,200 SERC scientists, and more than 260 A*STAR SERC scholars who will return from their PhD studies. Fusionopolis will thus be a magnet for more talent, both local and foreign, to contribute to the physical sciences and engineering scene in Singapore.

I am confident that Fusionopolis will help to anchor high value economic activities and contribute to the development of Singapore as a knowledge-intensive economy.I look forward to the success of Fusionopolis as Singapore’s physical sciences and engineering hub, and a cradle for knowledge convergence where next generation applications are incubated and test-bedded.

Thank you.