Singapore Government Press Release

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Chairman and CEO, Molex Incorporated

Mr John Krehbiel Jr, President and Chief Operating Officer,

Molex Incorporated

Mr Ron Schubel, Corporate Vice President and President of

Molex Far East South

Mr David Root, General Manager, Molex Singapore

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good morning

It gives me great pleasure to be here this morning for the opening of Molex Singapore’s new plant extension and to join you in celebrating your 20^th Anniversary.

Molex established its first Singapore subsidiary twenty years ago in May 1977. You were the first connector company to manufacture in Singapore. This reflects the pioneering and enterprising spirit that has made Molex one of the leading connector manufacturers in the world. Since its inception, Molex Singapore has continuously expanded and upgraded, with output growing at a remarkable 26% annually. Beginning with just thirty employees, occupying a 1,300 sq. m site, Molex today provides employment for over 600 people in a modern two hectare facility. Your rapid growth and success is a testimony of capable corporate leadership and commitment to corporate objectives. We are proud to be associated with your success.

In particular, I note that Molex Singapore is Molex’s largest and most advanced plant in Asia outside Japan. The Singapore plant is fully integrated and highly automated. It is supported by a comprehensive in-house product and tooling design and fabrication facility. These attributes have made Molex Singapore a showcase company in Singapore’s precision engineering industry, which employs over 64,000 and is the third largest manufacturing cluster in terms of annual fixed asset investment commitments. Precision engineering also has very strong linkages and provides vital support to other clusters of the manufacturing sector such as electronics and healthcare.

Molex Singapore is a prime example of such linkages. Its customer list includes electronics industry leaders such as Seagate, Compaq, Hewlett Packard, Philips, Matsushita and Creative Technologies. They depend on Molex Singapore’s fully integrated design and production facilities to meet their requirements, be it new product launches or quick production ramp ups due to surges in demand.

The Government has been implementing strategies to turn Singapore into a world-class precision engineering hub both in size and capability. This is in anticipation of a growing need for precision engineering products and components. We would like to encourage all precision engineering companies to move into higher value-added products and to tap into high growth markets such as telecommunications, broadcast media and healthcare. The advent of cellular phones, high speed communication devices, digital televisions and micro-surgery are creating strong demand for new generations of precision components.

Molex and other precision engineering companies must therefore be prepared to cope with the constant waves of new products by building up their core capabilities. I am pleased to note that Molex Singapore has consistently mounted successful capability enhancement initiatives in its twenty years here. During that period, Molex’s forward looking management has ensured that its investments in Singapore were not only for expanding production capacity but also for upgrading core-engineering competencies.

The precision engineering sector in Singapore must also change with the times and break-away from its traditional role as a mere supporting industry. Another strategy, therefore, is to attract more industrial equipment manufacturing companies to design and assemble machinery in Singapore. Several existing precision engineering companies are also being encouraged to upgrade and diversify to design and manufacture machine sub-modules and complete manufacturing systems.

Innovation is another key element for success in this fast paced world of limited resources and rising labour costs. Companies’ management must continue to nurture an innovation-driven culture to stay ahead. By the innovative application of appropriate technologies, companies can focus their resources and create better products and services ahead of their competitors.

Molex Singapore leveraged on Singapore’s research institutes, quality workforce and government support to become a technology base for its Asia Pacific operations. This has resulted in Molex Singapore being awarded two grants under the Innovation Development Scheme. These grants underscore the Government’s commitment to assist precision engineering companies in their innovation efforts.

In tandem with the growth in East Asia, Molex has extended its reach in the region via the establishment of plants in Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, while maintaining operational and business management over these entities from Molex Far East South Management Pte Ltd. Concurrently, Molex Singapore has continued to introduce new manufacturing projects to maintain its leadership position in the region. I look forward to seeing Molex’s continued growth in East Asia by successfully using Singapore as the technology, manufacturing and management nerve centre.

Over the years, Molex Singapore has been instrumental in the introduction of new connector production technologies into Singapore. In the process, it has trained many of its employees in advanced automation, connector design, ultra-high speed stamping, plating and mould design and fabrication. We are appreciative of Molex’s contribution to the skill upgrading of our precision engineering manpower.

The Singapore-Molex partnership has achieved much success. On behalf of the Singapore Government, I would like to assure Molex of our maximum support to ensure continued success in the future. May I wish the management and staff of Molex Singapore Pte Ltd continued prosperity for many years to come. It now gives me great pleasure in declaring this factory extension open.

Thank you.