DuPont setting up innovation and business HQ in Singapore

US chemicals firm DuPont is setting up a new innovation and business headquarters in Singapore to deliver new innovations customised for South-east Asia.

The new headquarters will be based in an 11,000 square-metre facility which will open next year and will house nearly 200 scientists, engineers and business leaders, growing to over 300 employees by 2020. It will be part of DuPont's global network of 13 innovation centres and 150 research and development centres worldwide.

DuPont has been present in Singapore since 1973 and is present in eight South-east Asian countries.

Said DuPont senior vice-president and chief science and technology officer Douglas Muzyka: "DuPont's powerful innovation pipeline is driven by our unique combination of science and engineering, strong execution and global reach. The DuPont Singapore Asean headquarters will bring us closer than ever to our Asean customers so that together we can quickly develop and deliver innovative solutions for the region and the world."

The Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) said it is pleased that DuPont has chosen Singapore as the base in Asean.

"DuPont will be able to leverage the inter-disciplinary research capabilities in the publicly-funded research institutes and universities in Singapore to innovate new products and solutions to meet the needs of an increasingly sophisticated Asean," said EDB energy and chemicals director Cindy Koh.