Procter & Gamble to invest US$100m in its first digital innovation centre in Singapore

PROCTER & Gamble (P&G) will invest more than US$100 million over the next five years to set up its first digital innovation centre outside the US in Singapore.

The E-Center will be pivotal to its undertaking of end-to-end digital innovation across three core areas of supply chain management, e-analytics and e-business.

Under the E-Center, P&G - which celebrates its 30th anniversary in Singapore this year - will expand its partnerships with local small-medium entreprises (SMEs) and start-ups, and support their capability upgrading by co-developing new digital solutions, S Iswaran, Singapore's Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry), said.

He added that P&G would be training 40 employees to take on the new digital roles at the E-Center. It will also work closely with Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) to co-develop industry-relevant curriculum in digital skillsets.

"I am confident that this new E-Center will better position P&G and Singapore to capture future opportunities in the digital economy,'' said Mr Iswaran.

P&G first established its 100-man regional sales office in Singapore in 1987. Today, Singapore serves as P&G's Asia-Pacific Headquarters with 2,000 employees across a range of functions, including brand management, marketing, supply chain management, consumer insights, design and manufacturing.

Singapore is also one of P&G's global hubs for innovation and talent development. It employs 400 researchers at its Singapore Innovation Center (SGIC), and trains over 500 managers annually at its Asia Leadership Development Center in Singapore.