As one of the world’s best places to live, Singapore has its fingers on the pulse of global lifestyle demands. Our cosmopolitan population is a trendsetter and barometer for global lifestyle needs. Coupled with having the best business environment in the world, Singapore is a natural launch pad and international hub for lifestyle businesses looking for global success.
Centrally located in a region of growing affluence, Singapore is a unique gateway to consumers who are increasingly seeking diverse and sophisticated lifestyle products and services. Art, collectibles, performing arts and sports companies are examples of Lifestyle businesses that are growing in Singapore.
The Visual Arts
Art and collectibles businesses ranging from auction houses, conservators, art logistics providers, art investment firms and art printers have set up base in Singapore to serve the Asia Pacific market. From 2004 to 2008, the operating receipts of these businesses registered a high growth rate of 30%.
The Singapore Freeport, the world’s largest high-security storage facility for art and high value collectible items started operations in May 2010; with leading arts business Christie’s establishing its Fine Art Storage Services within the Freeport facility to provide storage services to its global clientele. Another top auction house, Spink, has chosen Singapore as its base to tap into Asia's growing market for coins, stamps, medals and banknotes collectibles.
Arts businesses setting up in Singapore will also benefit from the other exciting developments in the Singapore arts scene. The inaugural Art Stage Singapore in January 2011, will be the latest art fair by the former Director of Art Basel, Lorenzo Rudolf, that will position Singapore as the arts hub for the Asia-Pacific. The fair would feature top galleries from the most dynamic art markets of Asia and prestigious international galleries from Europe and the United States. Via the works of brilliant emerging and established artists, Singapore will be the venue for an enriching dialogue between East and West.
Singapore will also unveil a new National Art Gallery in 2014 which will focus on Southeast Asian art. The new gallery is expected to position Singapore as a centre for the promotion, research, study and display of Southeast Asian art. The School of the Arts (SOTA), has been set up as Singapore’s first national pre-tertiary specialised arts school to offer a 6-year unique integrated arts and academic curriculum for youths aged 13-18 years old. The school will lead the charge in identifying and grooming future generations of artists and creative professionals in all fields.
The performing arts scene in Singapore is vibrant and diverse with 7,500 performances a year, and a continual stream of major events such as the Singapore Arts Festival, Mosaic Festival Sun Festival, LIVE! Singapore and ConversAsians attract the world’s best artists and arts groups. Singapore has also played host to international visiting productions. We were the first and only Asian stop for the world tour of The Tempest, host to world premieres of international productions such as Dunas, a creation of flamenco and contemporary dance between two of the world’s most celebrated dancemakers, María Pagés and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, at the Esplanade’s da:ns festival in 2009. In addition, we are co-producing Asian content that have become international successes in the examples of i La Galigo, and The Village.
Supporting this vibrant scene is a world-class arts infrastructure. Performing arts venues in Singapore are now numbered at 56 with a seating capacity of over 44,000. The Esplanade, along with new performance venues at the two Integrated Resorts, will be able to host large-scale musicals and long-running shows. Singapore is also garnering international attention as a platform for the development of arts and culture in Asia. A good and credible base of local and foreign arts institutions like NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Ngee Ann Polytechnic Diploma in Arts Management, School of the Arts and LASALLE College of the Arts help build a strong pool of performing arts talents and practitioners.
Attracted by these opportunities, international companies such as IMG Artists and Based Entertainment, have chosen to use Singapore as a base for their regional business activities and to expand their foothold in Asia. There is also a strong base of companies specialising in supporting services such as Creative Technology UK, Arup Acoustics, Unusual Entertainment and Arina Hogan Builders.
The Asia Pacific sports industry is expected to grow 6.5 percent per year to an estimated $26.7 billion in 2011. In Singapore, the sports industry is projected to contribute S$2 billion to GDP by 2015, along with the goal of employing 20,000 people in sports related jobs. In 2009, Singapore held over 700 local and international sporting events across the city and was named No.2 Ultimate Sports City at the biennial Sport Accord Convention in April 2010.
Singapore welcomes sports businesses to leverage Singapore’s pro-business environment to tap into the business opportunities in the region. Converse, a sports and lifestyle footwear & apparel company affiliated to Nike Inc, for example, has chosen Singapore to consolidate its global trading operations and drive its business expansion into the region. Most notably, Singapore will house global planning and supply chain management functions for Converse globally.
The growing number of events and infrastructure developments in Asia have also attracted sports management companies to Singapore. World Sport Group is Asia’s leading sports management company with its global HQ in Singapore managing key sports rights such as Indian Premier League (cricket). The company is also the exclusive marketing partner of Asian Football Confederation. MP & Silva is a leading international sports agency managing the event and media rights for one of the world’s most lucrative professional football league – the Italian Serie A. The company also drives the commercialisation and management of event and media rights for Middle East and Asia from its base in Singapore.
The increasing demand for sports-related training services has also attracted the Manchester United Soccer School (MUSS) to establish its South-East Asian Hub in Singapore. Youths from as far as South Korea and Japan participate in the football clinics and tournaments organised by MUSS SEA.
These businesses will add to the base of sports infrastructure and activities that are being developed in Singapore. A state-of-the-art Sports Hub and Changi Motorsports Hub which are on the cards, will also place Singapore on the international map for sports. The 35 ha Singapore Sports Hub will be the base for elite athletes and sporting events and will serve as the centrepiece of Singapore’s development as a regional hub for sports business and events. The Changi Motorsports Hub (CMH) is another key development that is set to become Asia's first premier motorsports and entertainment centre. Singapore will also play host to a number of international marquee sporting events such as the F1 night race and the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010.
Ms Thien Kwee Eng, Director
Email: clientservices@edb.gov.sg
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Nanotechnology is the science that deals with materials, processes and devices that operate in the exceedingly small range of 1 to 100 nanometres. This class of next-generation technologies is creating a stir in both the scientific and commercial worlds, as it promises to deliver revolutionary products and capabilities across a broad range of industries – ranging from electronics to biomedical sciences. With nanotechnology, stronger yet lighter materials, or even batteries that charge to full capacity in a flash may soon be possibilities. In line with its industry development efforts, EDB has been actively promoting the research, business and financing aspects of nanotechnology – a sector that stands to significantly enhance Singapore’s manufacturing capabilities.
There are now about 50 companies involved in nanotechnology in Singapore. In aggregate, there are over 1,000 researchers, scientists and engineers employed in nanotechnology R&D here. One of these companies is NanoStart Asia, the regional arm of specialist German venture capital company NanoStart AG. The German firm invests in nanotechnology companies worldwide and decided on Singapore as its Asian base due to the city-state’s vibrant nanotech activities. In July 2008, the company was awarded a S$10 million investment grant from the National Research Foundation’s Early-Stage Venture Fund scheme, and has already invested in a spin-off from public research body A*STAR. Meanwhile, NanoFrontier, a nanotechnology business support company set up by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in 2005 has successfully taken off, nurturing nanotech start-ups from countries such as US, UK, France and Israel to establish a presence in Singapore via partnership with NTU. These advances, along with many others, go a long way towards anchoring Singapore’s position as a leader in the nanotechnology revolution.
Mr Jonathan Kua, Director
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Having revolutionised manufacturing processes, the fast-advancing world of Robotics and Intelligent Systems (R&IS) is moving into novel applications. R&IS is opening up new revenue streams and facilitating work in previously unaddressed opportunities in service robotics.
Global trends such as aging and the need for greater productivity, are driving demand for new solutions which will impact many different industries. EDB’s vision is to develop Singapore as the leading centre for development of service robotics solutions in the areas of logistics, medical, infrastructure inspection and transport to help further improve productivity, efficiency and safety in the workplace, and quality of life in our society. We want to partner companies to use Singapore as a Living Lab for the development and testing of new technologies and prototypes, and have our city-state as a lead adopter of commercially viable R&IS solutions. Our strong networks and interconnectivity with the region also facilitate the export of these unique solutions to Asian markets.
Hocoma AG, a Swiss rehabilitation robotics company signed an MOU with Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) to develop and provide advanced rehabilitation therapies to patients with neurological disorders in Singapore. The hospital will be the company’s dedicated training centre. Hocoma also hopes to gain insights into neurological problems faced by Asian patients, customize products for this market and raise the level of robotics rehabilitative care in Asia Pacific. Panasonic is also working with TTSH to undertake new clinical collaboration activities in assistive robotics systems. In the field of medical robotics, These and other companies will also be able to leverage on Singapore’s existing capabilities in biomedical sciences and precision engineering to start new medical robotics activities in Singapore.
With the growth of the R&IS industry, it is crucial to develop a critical mass of talent pool who will become future leaders to lead R&IS efforts in Singapore. Recognising this, the EDB is also supporting a dual degree PhD programme between the Nanyang Technological University and Carnegie-Mellon University to groom top talent in both science and business, to meet the fast growing needs of R&D, innovation and commercialisation. Singapore has also built up world-class competencies in robotics R&D with one of the largest robotics laboratories in Asia and the presence of over 25 research groups employing more than 300 researchers, scientists and engineers in this field.
Many students from Singapore and abroad participate in world class robotics competitions. Singapore recently hosted RoboCup 2010, the world’s biggest robotics and artificial intelligence event. The event saw roboticists from over 40 countries, close to 500 teams and 4000 participants demonstrating their engineering, science, creativity and innovative skills at the various competitions. The milestone event also received strong support from corporate sponsors and industry representatives, allowing them to reach out to and network with researchers and scientists at the RoboCup symposium and industry lunch.
Mr Jonathan Kua, Director
Email: clientservices@edb.gov.sg
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The premise of Singapore becoming a natural resource hub is fast becoming a reality. Its strategic position in resource-rich Asia makes Singapore a choice location for world-class natural resource companies.
The EDB’s Natural Resources Strategy encompasses aquaculture, agriculture, metals and minerals; Singapore aims to be a nerve centre that plays a part in fulfilling global demand for these resources, and creates technologies to ensure future sustainability. Presently, the growing number of international companies has generated a buzz of activity. Many of the agri-commodity players in Singapore today have also moved beyond trading functions to establish significant activities along the business value chain, including marketing, trade finance, shipping, and even shared services operations here.
Increasingly, we are seeing global consumption and production patterns shifting from the West to Asia Pacific. Singapore is also located in the centre of a region which is home to some of the top producers of several commodities. Hence companies in the commodities or natural resources business are finding it attractive to chose Singapore as the epicentre of their operations. As a global business city, Singapore’s well-established trading infrastructure and comprehensive network of international agreements, backed by our financial, logistics and shipping industries, our pro-business environment, political and economic stability, efficient legal system and a highly-qualified workforce, are key pull factors for companies choosing Singapore as the nerve centre for their operations in the region.
Underpinning the growth of this sector is research and development. Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory undertakes cutting-edge basic and strategic research in molecular biology and genetics to address the needs of the global agriculture and aquaculture industries. In addition, the National University of Singapore established the Minerals, Metals and Materials Technology Centre in 2007, the first centre dedicated to the research of new material development, metal and mineral processing.
Mr Jonathan Kua, Director
Email: clientservices@edb.gov.sg
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Singapore presents a choice location for global automotive companies to carry out headquarters activities, spares distribution, production of high-value products and R&D.
Almost all the major Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Tier 1 automotive suppliers use Singapore to oversee their regional operations. Many OEMs also use Singapore as a regional logistics base to manage their aftermarket spares distribution to the region. Regional procurement is also an increasingly important activity, given companies’ need for an efficient and well-connected base to oversee this function. Singapore's excellent physical and trade connectivity, availability of supply chain professionals and well-established financial infrastructure make the country an attractive location for procurement and supply chain management activities.
Our strong industrial base in electronics, infocommunications and mechanical engineering has supported the growth of related automotive R&D in Singapore. More than 800 are involved in research on engine control modules, infotainment, telematics and other fields. For example, Delphi and Continental have a substantial R&D presence here. Bosch, the world’s leading automotive supplier, has also recently set up its Corporate R&D Asia Pacific HQ.
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Mr Sia Kheng Yok, Director
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