Current location site: Singapore

Updated in June 2024

Amid changing economic tides, Singapore's economy has remained resilient as a hub for business and finance in Asia.

Promisingly, several high-growth industries – including biomedical sciences, healthcare and life sciences, semiconductors, digitech, agritech, foodtech and e-commerce – have also grown from strength to strength, and are poised to become key growth drivers post-pandemic.

All of this is testament to Singapore’s patient but bold efforts to invest strategically in key growth sectors.

Many of these emergent industries have specialised real estate needs and require a world-class environment for their workers and production processes to continue to grow.

Building a resilient Singapore economy

Hence, what can be valuable for them is working with a landlord with a long experience in delivering top-tier business and industrial facilities, and nurturing dynamic business environments.

Real estate group CapitaLand, with its extensive suite of industrial, office and business park properties across the island, has been instrumental in being a growth partner for companies in a wide range of sectors.

Says Mr Aylwin Tan, chief customer solutions officer at CapitaLand: “When we work together with our tenants, we don’t just provide real estate or infrastructure. The CapitaLand difference is that we constantly invest in efforts to nurture business communities and innovation ecosystems within our properties, be they standalone buildings or business parks. 

“Throughout our clients’ growth journeys, we’re with them every step of the way, understanding their needs and collaborating with them to provide the hardware and heartware they need to stay on top of the game in their respective industries.” 

Boom in biomedical and healthcare

With the booming healthcare market in Asia-Pacific, biomedical and healthcare companies globally will continue to see Singapore as an attractive regional base.

One example is German multinational company Heraeus Medical Components Singapore, which operates a medical wire production and research facility. It was attracted to set up shop here for a variety of other reasons, including the presence of many other medical device companies, the Republic’s ready and available talent pool, and strategic position in Asia-Pacific to serve regional markets.

The company credits its efficient operations in Singapore to its ability to house everything, from research and development (R&D) to the manufacturing of medical components, in its facility at 53 Serangoon North Avenue 4, which is in close proximity to Heraeus’ regional centre sited at CapitaLand’s Techplace II.

Says Mr Eric Lee, managing director of Heraeus Medical Components (HMC) Singapore: “With the growth of the medtech industry in Singapore and the region, HMC sees a tremendous growth opportunity which can be supported by this site. CapitaLand has been a key partner for us and has been working with us over the years on expansion plans.” 

Opportunities in agritech and foodtech
 
With Singapore aiming to have 30 per cent of its food sourced locally by 2030, the country is investing heavily in strengthening its entire food value chain. Prestigious addresses in tech districts are becoming highly coveted by agritech businesses wanting to attract top talent and provide an innovative working environment.

Singapore Science Park is one answer, offering prime specifications and R&D labs for tenants to push the boundaries of food science. That’s attracting the likes of indoor vertical farm VertiVegies, which is located at The Cavendish.

Indoor farming tenants are also flocking to industrial spaces as such real estate have specifications such as high ceilings, high power, good floor loading and large regular floor plates. For instance, Precede grows pesticide- and fungicide-free produce in the modern yet cost-efficient factory space of Techplace II in Ang Mo Kio industrial estate.

Exponential growth in e-commerce 

The Covid-19 pandemic, combined with the rise of South-east Asia’s Internet economy has led Singapore to aspire to become an e-commerce hub for the region. Fast-growing companies are hungry for office spaces that can help foster innovation and creativity – and e-commerce giant Shopee found that in 5 Science Park Drive. 

Located within the vibrant tech precinct of one-north, the 244,000 sq ft building with large floor plates gave Shopee freedom and flexibility to design the space to its exact needs.

The firm created everything, from open offices and meeting rooms to aid teamwork, to Instagram-worthy amenities such as a full-sized gym and in-house cafeteria to make employees feel at home as they work.

For a company experiencing meteoric growth, room to grow is key – and as the company hired aggressively during the pandemic, it was able to lease extra office footprint at nearby flexible workspace Bridge+.

With delivery efficiency being a big part of e-commerce operations, warehouses – such as those at Changi Logistics Centre and 21 Changi South Avenue 2 – also provide facilities for logistics expansion and end-to-end operations facilities.

Steady investments in semiconductors

With the electronics boom showing no end in sight, the global semiconductor industry – a mainstay of Singapore’s economic success – has experienced steady growth. Big global players continue to make Singapore home, such as AEM, a company that provides semiconductor and electronics test solutions. 

The company houses everything, from R&D and engineering labs to the manufacturing of equipment and related test fixtures and kits, at its seven-storey global headquarters at 52 Serangoon North Avenue 4, which it has leased from CapitaLand since 2005.

Says Mr Goh Meng Kiang, vice-president of operations at AEM: “This location is a very central spot in Singapore and while we used to have another factory in Tuas, getting people there was a big challenge. Moving here has made life much easier for our employees. We are surrounded by both public and private housing, and there is great accessibility to lots of food options.

“CapitaLand and its large portfolio of leasable properties has been a good partner in helping us with our changing space needs as we continue to grow as a global leader in test innovation.”

Your workspace, just the way you want it

With businesses expanding and constantly pivoting in today’s economy, companies often want to consolidate their different value-chain activities under one roof. Corporations will appreciate the flexibility offered by developments like UBIX, a modern industrial development with a large contiguous floor plate.

Another example is the Schneider Electric East Asia and Japan headquarters, which amalgamated multiple operations across the island to one location, at 50 Kallang Avenue.

With a “convert-to-suit” refurbishment, it was able to bring together office, industrial and flexible workspaces altogether – all powered by 100 per cent renewable (solar) energy in the daytime.

Intelligent environments for a Smart City

Singapore is emerging as an innovation hub, with its business and science parks, such as Singapore Science Park, becoming home to the world’s tech giants. Beyond merely providing a workspace, CapitaLand also actively nurtures communities and builds platforms and ecosystems for workers to innovate, learn and connect to new opportunities.

These include the Smart Urban Co-Innovation Lab – a new living lab within Singapore Science Park that brings together technology companies to discover, develop, demonstrate and deploy solutions for smart cities. Providing a platform for community-building, networking events, test-bed opportunities and more, the lab is set to benefit some 200 companies in Singapore over the next few years.

There’s also Catapult, South-east Asia’s first shared executive learning centre, which provides training programmes on leadership and innovation to executives using new-age technologies like virtual reality, in Singapore Science Park and the upcoming Rochester Commons campus.

Thriving in the right business environment

It takes a winning blend of holistic and thoughtful work environment for businesses in Singapore to keep thriving. 

Having top-tier facilities that aid seamless business operations is key. But what is just as crucial is creating the conditions for organic communities to grow and flourish. 

Developing such dynamic ecosystems will help these businesses, and by extension Singapore, remain competitive. It bears repeating that a landlord trusted by locals and multinationals, standing ready to partner businesses in their growth journey in Singapore and beyond, makes all the difference.

Source: The Business Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction.