Singapore electronics firm wins government contract for contact-tracing devices

[SINGAPORE] PCI, a Singapore electronics firm backed by Platinum Equity, has won a government contract to manufacture an initial batch of wearable contact tracing devices, as Singapore seeks to contain the spread of the virus amid a nationwide reopening.

The government will be calling for a limited tender for the design, manufacturing and delivery of further batches of TraceTogether Token, according to a statement Friday from the Smart Nation and Digital Government Group, the agency tasked with digital transformation projects in the country. The S$6 million tender was awarded to the company to supply 300,000 dongles, equivalent to S$20 a token, according to the Straits Times, citing a government notice.

Singapore is embarking on a move to distribute the portable devices to all its 5.7 million residents amid the slow take-up rate of a separate contact tracing phone app. The first batch is set to be delivered to people in the latter half of this month, during which the country is also expected to further ease measures on businesses and households.

Officials have said there aren't any current plans for the device to be mandatory for now, though that may change depending on the participation rate among the people.

PCI, an electronics manufacturing service provider led by chief executive officer Teo Eng Lin, was acquired by US-based Platinum Equity from Chuan Hup Holdings and other shareholders last year. The firm, which started in 1972 as a printed circuit board manufacturer, was subsequently delisted from the Singapore bourse last May.

BLOOMBERG