To achieve green transformation, semiconductor firms must innovate, nurture talent: Alvin Tan

SEMICONDUCTOR companies have a responsibility to innovate and hone the right talent to help spur green transformation within the sector and meet its sustainability goals, said Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan on Thursday (Sep 29).

“I know that the transition is difficult… but please think about the practical steps that you can take towards reducing your carbon footprint in Singapore,” said Tan at the Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association (SSIA) Summit 2022. “If we don’t do it… our children will demand it. So we ought to do it for them.”

Earlier at the summit, with sustainability as its focus, SSIA chairman Andrew Chong noted businesses’ concerns over the spike in energy prices and the upcoming increase in carbon taxes in 2023. But he stressed that becoming more sustainable and efficient is one way of bringing these costs down.

“I know that the increased costs are painful for many of you... but we must not lose this opportunity. The pain we will suffer anyway, but we must not lose this opportunity to understand the messaging that we need to change and be more efficient and think through our processes,” said Chong.

On the government’s part, Tan said it will support businesses by working with them to pilot novel emission abatement solutions, citing the example of STMicroelectronics, which announced in May that it will build and operate Singapore’s biggest industrial cooling system at its Ang Mo Kio plant.

Besides sustainability, the minister highlighted 2 other areas where the semiconductor industry is facing challenges — talent and innovation.

On talent, Tan noted that Singapore has not been immune to the shortage of semiconductor talent that companies are facing globally.

One way the government hopes to address this is to forge closer links between the industry and educational institutions to develop a robust pipeline of talent. “We want to work closely with companies on these student outreach efforts This includes participation in career fairs, semiconductor industry awareness week and visits to plants to see and experience the exciting work first-hand. We welcome new ideas on how we can better coordinate outreach efforts collectively as an industry,” said Tan.

The Trade Associations and Chambers, such as SSIA, are also actively participating in industry programmes to help groom the next generation of local leaders in the industry.

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As for innovation, the government will continue to support the semiconductor industry’s research and development efforts to encourage continued investment in the area, said Tan. For example, it recently launched the Future of Microelectronics initiative, which aims to create a globally competitive public-private research ecosystem for Singapore.

The government is also working with system and product companies to pursue product innovation through cutting-edge semiconductor know-how, said the minister.