Singapore woos wafer fabs with real estate offer
A Singaporean government agency has announced an 11% increase in land allocated for wafer manufacturing in an attempt attract more inward investment.
Reports say Singapore's government agency JTC Corporation is planning a new industrial park in Eastern Singapore, which is expected to be ready by 2024. The tiny Asia Pac nation is already an established destination for major chip companies such as Soitec, Toppan, Micron, Siltronic, and GlobalFoundries.
A report by Digitimes said that JTC plans to build special roads designed for the transport of large equipment and new utility pipelines to help incoming firms to run their facilities more efficiently. It adds that the semiconductor industry accounts for 20% of Singapore's manufacturing sector. Currently, wafer fabs are concentrated in four industrial parks: Pasir Ris, Tampines, Woodlands, and North Coast, covering a total area of 374 hectares
The report added that JTC also plans to introduce amenities such as dining, retail stores, and childcare facilities to attract more people to the industrial parks.
Singapore has many advantages that might entice inwards investment. It's peaceful, administratively efficient and doesn't suffer from natural disasters such as earthquakes and typhoons. It's also small, making it easy to move products and people around.
