Singapore is planning to become a manufacturing center for the photonics and optics industries by boosting production to $1bn worth of products from the current $150m. Optics and photonics applications are used in the medical, IT, telecoms and electronics industries.
Announcing the government’s decision to concentrate on this sector at an international Optics/Photonics Forum in Singapore, Economic Development Board managing director Liew Heng San said the best way for Singapore to grow an optics hub would be for local firms to link up with foreign players.
Asked when the $1bn goal would be achieved, Liew said this would depend on how fast these partnerships take off, but a timeframe of three years was possible. Companies from the US, Canada, Germany and Japan are attending the forum and participating in business matching sessions with local companies which have already formed domestic consortia to concentrate on different technologies.
