Singapore counts on three-pronged strategy to grow manufacturing sector by 50% by 2030

SINGAPORE has a three-pronged strategy to help achieve the goal of growing the country's manufacturing sector by 50 per cent by 2030.

Marvin Lee, vice-president for semiconductors at the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), outlined the three key areas, which are: attracting frontier investments, developing and transforming local enterprises in advanced manufacturing; and developing talent in the field.

In a presentation at the speaking at Semiconductor Business Connect event on Tuesday, he said that Singapore's strengths in having a diversified manufacturing base has enabled the country to remain competitive, but that more must be done to build on the good work that it has achieved so far.

"We must aspire to be a centre of innovation, create core intellectual property and compete on the basis of R&D, innovation and knowledge," he said, adding that there is still much room for growth in the semiconductor industry as he expects the sector to double in size over the next decade.

As Industry 4.0 begins to upend traditional ways of doing business, Dr Lee encouraged businesses to use the Smart Industry Readiness Index, an assessment tool to gain an understanding of the current state of their manufacturing operations, benchmark against peers and identify ways to go further.

He lauded companies like United Microelectronics Corporation, which have placed themselves ahead of the game by embarking on their Industry 4.0 journey early.

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As the industry grows, many more jobs will be created in Singapore, including diverse job opportunities which will be made available to Singaporeans, he said.

To ensure a healthy pipeline of talents to support the manufacturing industry, EDB has been working closely with the Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association to run public-education drives to attract attract students to join the semiconductor industry.

"The competitiveness of our manufacturing will now hinge on whether we push through the frontiers of production, evolve new products and services and business models and compress time cycles," Dr Lee said.

"We have confidence that our diverse semiconductor ecosystem will continue to drive sustainable growth within the manufacturing sector in the coming decade."