Singapore Government Press Release
Media Division, Ministry of Information and The Arts,
MITA Building, 140 Hill Street, 2nd Storey, Singapore 179369
Tel: 837-9666

Mr Marcus Lassus

Chairman, Gemplus International

Mr Antonio Perez

President & CEO, Gemplus International

Mr Chou Fang Soong

Managing Director, Gemplus Technologies Asia

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good morning

It is my pleasure this morning to join you at the official opening of Gemplus’ new Regional HQ facilities. We are delighted that Gemplus, the world’s leading smart card solutions provider, now has new premises to house its 800 staff and all its high value-added activities under one roof in Singapore.

While we live in difficult times, let’s remind ourselves that every cloud has a silver lining. We must press on resolutely and relentlessly, and keep our spirits high as we confront new challenges.

To meet these new challenges, the Economic Development Board has re-looked its economic strategies, and set itself the goal of developing Singapore as a compelling hub for knowledge-driven business and investment. EDB will focus on building a thriving enterprise ecosystem, one that can support companies both large and small, foreign and Singapore-based. Such synergistic interactions within the ecosystem will lead to greater value creation for companies, and, through multiplier effects, for the entire economy. Allow me to draw some examples of the enterprise ecosystem concept from Gemplus’ business to illustrate this point.

Gemplus is a good example of how a young foreign start-up first came to Singapore, and then grew to become the global leader that it is today. Gemplus first came to Singapore in 1989. It was then a year old. Smartcard technology was also only in its nascent stage. Notwithstanding this, the Singapore Government saw great growth potential in Gemplus and in smartcard technologies. We offered Gemplus a helping hand with their business here. A Singapore Government venture capital company, Vertex, was one of the early investors in Gemplus. Over the years, Gemplus’ business in Singapore grew and its operations expanded globally.

We are privileged to have been able to play a significant part in Gemplus’ growth plans. Beyond growing its business in the global market, Gemplus also plays a part in nurturing fledgling start-ups. You have heard from Mr Perez that EDB Ventures and GemVentures, the investment arms of EDB Investments and Gemplus respectively, jointly started a US$6 million incubator fund recently. This fund will help young start-ups working on smartcard technologies and applications to grow and thrive, thus further enhancing the smartcard technology ecosystem.

With the setting up of Gemplus’ new Regional HQ Facilities, we are pleased to learn that Gemplus will be investing an additional S$100 million in new plant, machinery and facilities over the next five years. These new investments will allow new generations of smart technology products to be manufactured in Singapore. It will also boost interaction amongst Gemplus’ suppliers and customers in Singapore. More importantly, through such efforts, we hope to enrich the enterprise ecosystem and raise the level of skills competence among all companies in Singapore.

These examples illustrate the many ways in which players from across the entire enterprise continuum, from young start-ups to established, foreign and Singapore-owned companies, can interact with each other to create greater value. The role of the public sector is to act as facilitator and catalyst, to nurture and sustain the conditions conducive to the growth and development of the various components of the ecosystem. The private sector’s role is to provide the seeds, such as new business ideas. Through their creativity and business acumen, they sow these seeds and grow them into big trees, trees with plenty of fruits to harvest.

At the same time, for the ecosystem to thrive, it needs skilled talents to make things happen. Gemplus’ recruitment plan dovetails Singapore’s thrust to develop a talent capital here. The company plans to grow its R&D centre by more than 100 per cent, from 80 to 170 R&D engineers over the next five years. This is definitely good news for us. The increased employment will place Singapore as the largest R&D Centre for Gemplus outside of France.

Since setting up operations here, Gemplus has been able to leverage on Singapore’s good connectivity to penetrate into the Asia-Pacific market, from Japan, to China, to Australia. This has allowed Gemplus to expand its business in the region, and grow to its current leadership position. In fact, I was told that Gemplus first used Singapore as its launch pad into the China market as early as 1992. The company started its first China office in 1994, with the first Singaporean expatriate moving into China one year later. Since then, Gemplus’ business in China has grown significantly. Today, China is Gemplus’ largest market.

Singapore continues to offer a strategic launch pad for Gemplus to tap the 2.8 billion people, markets and talent pool within a 7-hour flight radius from here. Gemplus can continue to use Singapore as its nerve centre to expand even more of its business in this region.

It is heartening to know that despite the current economic downturn, Gemplus will continue to invest in the development of technology in Singapore. Gemplus is also showing strong commitment to Singapore as a viable long-term partner for its business and investments. We are honoured by this partnership.

I would like to offer my warmest congratulations to the staff and management of Gemplus on its official opening. You can be assured that Singapore will continue to help grow your business and provide the support to create greater value and benefit for all. Thank you.