Mr S Iswaran at the Official Opening of Agilent Technologies’ Global Bio-Analytical Instruments Manufacturing Facility, 29 Oct 2010

SPEECH BY MR S ISWARAN, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE & INDUSTRY AND EDUCATION, AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES’ GLOBAL BIO-ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTS MANUFACTURING FACILITY ON FRIDAY, 29 OCTOBER 2010, 1100 HRS AT NO. 1 YISHUN AVENUE 7

Mr Bill Sullivan, President and CEO, Agilent Technologies, Inc.,

Dr Nick Roelofs, President, Life Sciences Group, Agilent Technologies, Inc.,

Mr Gooi Soon Chai, President, Agilent Technologies, Singapore and Malaysia,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Introduction

Good morning.I am pleased to join you today to celebrate Agilent Technologies’ opening of its new, global bio-analytical instruments manufacturing facility in Singapore.

Agilent Technologies has been a long-standing partner of Singapore. Over the past decade, Agilent has established Singapore as its Centre of Excellence in Asia for key business activities such as intellectual property (IP) management, sales and marketing. This new facility which manufactures life science instruments for global markets marks yet another significant expansion of Agilent Technologies’ operations in Singapore.

Singapore – Leading Global Manufacturing Site for Life Science Instruments

Manufacturing life science instruments entails the complex assembly of precision parts and the application of cutting-edge technologies. Singapore is well-positioned to host this sector, with our strong local precision engineering supplier base and skilled technical professionals.

It is noteworthy that life science companies based in Singapore now produce 50 per cent of the world’s thermal cyclers and more than half of the world’s microarrays. Indeed, with our ability to offer excellent IP protection, logistics connectivity and trade linkages with key markets, Singapore has proven to be an ideal base for many companies to expand their footprint in Asia.

Singapore – Key Partner for Innovation in Asia

Today, Asia’s fast-growing cities are grappling with a myriad of challenges associated with rapid urbanisation, rising affluence and an ageing population. Some of the difficult and pressing issues they face, range from healthcare and food safety to pollution and security.

As a city state, we in Singapore are well aware of these problems as we too, face similar challenges. This awareness coupled with our strong focus on research and innovation, renders Singapore well-placed to partner life science companies in developing new solutions to these complex problems. It is therefore not surprising that many leading biomedical, environmental and petrochemical companies have chosen to base their Asian operations in Singapore.

Singapore’s public research institutes have also built up a strong reputation in areas such as biomedical, environmental and water technologies.At a time when many countries have been reducing their R&D budgets, our objective is to further grow our public R&D sector.We believe that this will spur greater innovation, encourage enterprise and sustain our competitiveness.It will also help develop solutions that could address some of the challenges that Asian cities face.

Just last month, the Singapore Government committed S$16.1 billion to support research, innovation and enterprise over the next five years.More of our R&D work will also be focused on economic outcomes. This means working in closer collaboration with industry, creating intellectual property (IPs), as well as innovative products and services that can be commercialised.

To promote the growth of such R&D partnerships, new initiatives such as the Industry Partnership Office (IPO) have been launched. The IPO will serve as a one-stop office for companies to tap diverse capabilities across basic, translational and clinical research in Singapore’s integrated research network.

I would therefore urge companies that are based in Singapore with a strong focus on R&D, to partner our institutes and collectively work towards developing the next breakthrough technology.

Nurturing Talent in the Field of Life Sciences

To support the R&D sector, the Government has also built up a substantial research community of more than 25,000[1]. Leveraging on our location and strengths in science and engineering, we aim to nurture researchers with an in-depth understanding of Asia’s needs and challenges.

For example, the Economic Development Board’s Medtech IDEAS programme[2] and the Singapore-Stanford Biodesign programme[3] will train multi-disciplinary groups of clinicians, engineers and business professionals in medical device innovation, and provide them with exposure to Asia’s clinical needs.

Conclusion

Agilent’s expansion today marks a significant development in our life sciences technology sector. I am pleased that Singapore will become an integral part of Agilent’s global manufacturing network.

In conclusion, I would like to congratulate the senior management and staff of Agilent on the expansion of your manufacturing operations in Singapore, and I wish you every success.Thank you.

[1] National Survey of R&D 2008, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR

[2] Launched in April 2010, EDB’s Medtech Innovate, Design, Engineer for Asia in Singapore (IDEAS) programme targets to train 150 medical device innovators in partnership with leading medical device companies.

[3] Launched in January 2010, the Singapore-Stanford Biodesign Office is a collaboration between EDB, A*STAR and Stanford University.