Mr Yozo Shimano, President of Shimano Inc.

Mr Shinji Wada, Senior Executive Vice President of Shimano Inc.

Mr Chia Chin Seng, Managing Director of Shimano Singapore

Mr Soo Ming Hwa, Executive Director of Shimano Singapore

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and gentlemen

Good morning

Introduction

1. It gives me great pleasure to join you today at the ground-breaking ceremony for Shimano Singapore’s new intelligent manufacturing plant, the Factory of the Future, at Jurong Innovation District.
   
   
2. This morning’s ceremony marks an important milestone in Shimano’s long-standing partnership with Singapore and JTC. Shimano established its first overseas bicycle component assembly centre in Singapore back in 1973. Today, we are heartened that Shimano has chosen Singapore once again to set up one of its first overseas intelligent manufacturing plants, here in Jurong Innovation District.
   
   
3. The Jurong Innovation District was first announced in 2016 by Finance Minister Mr Heng Swee Keat. It is envisioned to be a next-generation industrial district that will play a key role in transforming Singapore’s manufacturing landscape. The District will host companies at the forefront of key growth sectors such as advanced manufacturing, urban solutions and smart logistics. It will also serve as a living lab for innovations, where companies will be able to house their full value chain of activities within the District, and bring ideas from laboratories to prototyping, test-bedding, production and distribution.
   
   
4. When completed, the 600-hectare District is estimated to bring about 100,000 new jobs, offering diverse career opportunities in advanced manufacturing and engineering-related sectors. It will be a smart car-lite estate that is sustainable and connected, well served by amenities and public transportation.

Advanced manufacturing niche in Jurong Innovation District

1. The siting of Shimano’s Factory of the Future is not just a vote of confidence in Singapore, but also in Jurong Innovation District as a hub for advanced manufacturing activities.
   
   
2. As part of its innovation efforts, Shimano Singapore’s new facility will serve as an R&D hub that will test-bed first-of-its-kind solutions such as integrating wearable technology with bicycles and the use of special materials on cycling apparels. It will also adopt smart manufacturing technologies supported by real-time analytics.
   
   
3. With the Institutes of Higher Learning like Nanyang Technological University, research institutions and new growth industries at CleanTech Park in close proximity, we look forward to seeing more researchers, students and enterprises coming together in the District to develop more of such cutting-edge technologies.
   
   
4. We are in the early stages of the planning and development of the Jurong Innovation District, and we are glad that the District’s pioneer companies, like Shimano, are on this journey with us to grow the advanced manufacturing ecosystem.

Conclusion

1. In closing, I would like to thank Shimano-san and his team for the trust and confidence you have placed in Singapore.
   
   
2. I wish the management and staff of Shimano every success, and look forward to many more decades of partnership between Shimano and Singapore. Thank you.