Chairman and CEO, Agilent Technologies

Dato’ Tan Bian Ee

President, Agilent Technologies Singapore

Ladies and Gentlemen

I am delighted to join all of you this morning for the opening of Agilent’s new facility. The partnership between Singapore and Agilent goes back 30 years, when Hewlett-Packard established its first assembly and test facility in Singapore in 1971.

Since then, Agilent has steadily expanded and upgraded in Singapore, moving into products like optocouplers and fiber optic components. In 1988, Agilent shifted its business paradigm here and added front-end manufacturing, setting up Singapore’s first compound semiconductor wafer fabrication plant. In 2000, Agilent built an epitaxy fab, fully integrating the entire value chain for compound semiconductor manufacturing in Singapore.

Besides the compound semiconductor business, Singapore also hosts Agilent’s other core business – test and measurement equipment. In 2001, Agilent anchored the manufacturing charters for the 3070 Board Testers and RFIC Testers in Singapore.

Over the years, Agilent has grown with Singapore. The opening of this US$92 million building brings Agilent’s total investment in Singapore to some US$440 million.

Manufacturing is a key pillar of Singapore’s economy and will remain so in the future. However, we can only stay competitive by moving into high-value activities. These include HQ services, R&D, integrated manufacturing, product development, global marketing and supply chain management. Agilent’s development in Singapore exemplifies this shift in manufacturing here. Let me highlight 5 aspects.

First, Agilent’s business in the Asia-Pacific region is driven from Singapore. This is the command and control centre coordinating many activities, including R&D, manufacturing, marketing, finance and tax planning. Agilent has a 200-man call centre here.

Third, Agilent has put the worldwide charters for some of its key products in Singapore. Singapore is now the global source for several Agilent products, ranging from semiconductor devices to test equipment. This is a strong endorsement of Singapore’s capability in high value-added manufacturing.

Fourth, Agilent’s presence in Singapore creates many economic spin-offs. Agilent has helped to establish a good supplier base in Singapore’s precision engineering cluster, including precision component suppliers, PCB assembly houses and equipment integrators. Agilent also outsources part of its manufacturing activities to local electronics manufacturing services (EMS) companies and silicon foundries.

Fifth, as Agilent moves up the technology ladder, it increases the supply and raises the quality of our human resources, and opens up new possibilities for us. For example, our capabilities in the compound semiconductor industry will help us move into new emerging industries like photonics. The advanced skills and craftsmanship involved in the production of test and measurement equipment are related to those required for the production of photonic components and systems.

In all these ways, Agilent’s progress in Singapore points the way to the future for manufacturing here. What the Manufacturing Sub-Committee of the Economic Review Committee has recommended finds its expression in Agilent Singapore.

Today, Agilent Singapore has a staff strength of 3,000 and contributes a significant 21% of the company’s total worldwide revenue.

Agilent’s success and Singapore’s success go hand in hand. We have every intention to grow this partnership with Agilent into the future and assure you of our continuing support. On this happy day, I congratulate the owners, management and staff on the opening of your new facility.