Mr Lim Hng Kiang at the Official Opening Ceremony of Novartis Singapore Pharma Manufacturing (NSPM)

SPEECH BY MR LIM HNG KIANG, MINISTER FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING CEREMONY OF NOVARTIS SINGAPORE PHARMA MANUFACTURING (NSPM) ON MONDAY, 29 OCTOBER 2007, 11:20 AM, AT TUAS BIOMEDICAL PARK

His Excellency, Dr Daniel Woker, Swiss Ambassador to Singapore;

Mr. Tom Van Laar, Head of Global Technical Operations, Novartis Pharma;

Mr. Juan Andres, Global Head of Pharmaceutical Operations, Novartis Pharma;

Distinguished Guests;

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good morning. I am delighted to join you this morning to celebrate the opening of Novartis’s new tableting manufacturing facility.

I am pleased to note that this state-of-the-art facility will be Novartis’ largest tableting facility within its global manufacturing network. It involves an investment of US$180 million and will employ about 160 staff at steady state. It will adopt lean-manufacturing practices and serve as a model for cost-efficiency and improved response time for Novartis’s other facilities worldwide.

Constantly ranked among the world’s top 5 pharmaceutical companies with one of the broadest range of businesses in the industry, Novartis was also rated number one among pharmaceutical companies worldwide in the 2007 ranking of Fortune’s Most Admired Companies. Novartis’ decision to site this facility in Singapore is a significant endorsement of Singapore as a value-adding partner to world-class pharmaceutical companies.

Novartis’ highly-automated facility will employ a workforce that is experienced in electronics, mechatronics and electrical engineering. This investment is an excellent example of a manufacturing facility that Singapore is well-positioned to host due to our highly-skilled workforce and technological strengths. In view of our rapidly-expanding pharmaceutical manufacturing base, the Singapore Government has been working closely with companies like Novartis to further augment our pool of skilled manpower to support this industry. Let me outline our efforts in 3 major areas:

First, the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) has been working closely with our universities, polytechnics and ITEs on targeted outreach programmes to increase mindshare and interest among students for the pharmaceuticals manufacturing industry. As one of the most knowledge intensive industries in Singapore’s manufacturing sector, students are increasingly aware of tremendous career opportunities and the high value jobs that this industry offers. Today, we produce many graduates per year in various fields that are relevant to pharmaceutical manufacturing. These include the biomedical sciences, microbiology, chemical engineering and electrical engineering studies. We are confident that this will meet the recruitment needs of the pharmaceutical industry in Singapore.

Second, the EDB has been supporting companies to train over and beyond their existing headcount needs through the Company Training Scheme. This program supports companies to hire up to 20% over and above their established headcount, and is applicable to companies who hire fresh graduates or employees from non-related industries. This initiative helps to expand the existing pool of skilled and experienced manpower for this rapidly‑growing industry. It also puts Singapore in a strong position to support the increasing manpower demand for new pharmaceutical manufacturing investments.

Third, in our efforts to further increase the pool of skilled and experienced pharmaceutical manufacturing manpower, the Singapore Government has also been working closely to convert experienced workers but without prior pharmaceutical manufacturing background. Our institutes of higher learning are designing conversion programmes to provide training at various levels. In addition, the Government is prepared to co‑share the initial costs of re-skilling these employees. Such efforts are in line with our drive to constantly upgrade Singaporeans to acquire new skills and compete for better jobs.

Through these initiatives, pharmaceutical companies are able to tap into Singapore’s manufacturing workforce who employs 544,000 people today as well as fresh graduates who join the workforce every year. We are confident that they will put Singapore in good stead to support the incoming wave of new pharmaceutical manufacturing investments.

Novartis’s tableting facility joins our rapidly growing cluster of 25 pharmaceutical and biologics manufacturing facilities here, all of which produce for the global market. The strong confidence that these companies have in Singapore underscores our position today as a leading manufacturing location for the biomedical sciences industry.

I believe that many of you would have heard the good news announced by Novartis earlier this morning. Novartis has decided to locate its largest manufacturing investment in manufacturing capacity to date – a US$700 million biotechnology facility – in Singapore, to support the company’s growing pipeline of biopharmaceutical products. This will be the 1st biologics manufacturing investment in Singapore by a pharmaceutical company and our 5th commercial scale biologics plant to date. It further cements Singapore’s position as a leading location for world-class biopharmaceuticals manufacturing.

Looking ahead

In 2006, Singapore’s Biomedical Sciences manufacturing output reached S$23.0 billion, growing by an unprecedented 30% over the previous year. Our success would not be possible without the strong support of our strategic partners such as Novartis. With these two manufacturing investments, Novartis will have invested over S$1billion in manufacturing assets in Singapore. Novartis’ investments in Singapore now span the entire value chain of activities, covering drug discovery, clinical research, manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and contact lenses, and regional headquarters for its pharmaceuticals, vaccines & diagnostics, generics and consumer health businesses.

Conclusion

On this note, I would like to extend my heartiest congratulations to Novartis and your management team on the opening of your new tableting facility. This event, coupled with the landmark decision to site your largest biopharmaceuticals plant in Singapore marks yet another important milestone in the fast growing Novartis-Singapore partnership. You can be assured of the Singapore Government’s full commitment and support for a smooth and expeditious project implementation.

Thank you.