Singapore to keep investing in public R&D in electronics: Lim Hng Kiang

SINGAPORE will continue to invest in public research & development (R&D) in electronics, said Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang on Friday.

"(This will) develop critical capabilities that pre-position Singapore to seize opportunities offered by new or disruptive technologies," said Mr Lim, who was speaking at the opening of Seagate Technology's S$100 million Seagate Singapore Design Centre.

"The government remains committed to work with key partners like Seagate to ensure that Singapore continues to be a lead location to design and manufacture the critical components and drives to support the needs of this digital world," he added.

The new centre can house over 900 employees and is designed to provide world-class facilities for the mobile storage R&D team in Singapore.

It will focus on the development of 2.5-inch small form-factor hard drives, hybrid drives, firmware, software and technologies.

Applications for these include thin and light mobile PCs, local backup storage devices, and new opportunities such as network attached storage solutions.

Seagate is one of the largest electronics companies in Singapore, with 7,000 employees across three facilities.