S’pore’s aviation hub status likely to grow: Rolls-Royce

SINGAPORE — The Republic’s status as an aviation hub is likely to be enhanced as more companies will want to tap into the expanding aerospace ecosystem here, according to Rolls-Royce’s Regional Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific Jonathan Asherson.

In an email interview with TODAY ahead of this week’s Singapore Airshow, Mr Asherson said the company had benefited from the country’s talent pool, infrastructure and geographical location as it ramped up its maintenance and manufacturing presence here, and other businesses will want to follow suit.

Noting that a number of other leading companies and supply chain partners have set up their own facilities in Singapore since Rolls-Royce decided to expand its footprint here, he said the trend is likely to continue.

“Combined with world-class connectivity to the Asia-Pacific region,” he said, “a highly-skilled workforce, strong engineering capabilities, comprehensive intellectual property laws and a pro-business environment ensure that Singapore is well positioned to capitalise on massive future opportunities from emerging markets and further strengthen its standing as an important aviation hub in the region.”

Rolls-Royce accounts for more than 15 per cent of Singapore’s aerospace output and, with its joint-venture partners, employs more than 2,200 people. Its S$700-million Seletar Campus was opened in February 2012.

Making such a major investment made sense for Rolls-Royce as Singapore is at the heart of a region that offers significant growth opportunities, said Mr Asherson. “Singapore’s location enables closer proximity to our growing customer and supplier base in an increasingly important region for us, with over US$11.5 billion (S$14.6 billion) new orders received in 2013 from customers in Asia and the Middle East.”

But while Rolls-Royce has expanded rapidly in Singapore in recent years, it sees that there is still further room for growth. In May 2012, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with local research partners and other industry leaders to establish an Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre (ARTC) in Singapore.

“When it opens in the second half of 2014, the ARTC will serve as the first Asian location and the seventh in a global network of Advanced Manufacturing Research Centres aimed at developing innovative manufacturing and remanufacturing technologies,” said Mr Asherson.

And as Rolls-Royce expands, Singaporeans are likely to reap the benefits.

“With 40 per cent of Singaporeans having technology-related education, the country offers a skilled workforce who can be trained to develop high-value skills through internationally-recognised qualification programmes,” said Mr Asherson.