honda is beginning R&D for motorcycles in singapore. BMW is thinking of doing so in the next 6 months for their cars. are we looking towards a new trend?
will the govt start promoting us as an R&D hub in future?
i really hate that, them making us into a hub for anything that is shiny and can sweep the floor while having sex with you.
will the almost defunct biopolis be converted in R&Dpolis?
if this picks up, and malaysia and thailand step up their QC. the region could be in for some good change.
Well its about time that we jump the curve.
Personally I would think we have already had most of the neccessary fundamentals ready.
Foundations such as brains, political security, economic stabilty (relatively, I suppose under current circumstances..)
You name it, we have it.
But then again, I reckon that the R&D metamorphisis would probably come more attractive to cash rich MNCs instead of some local small R&D outfit.
Drawing reference to a newspaper article that I think was published on either Streats or Today a couple of weeks ago, there was an article in which a Singaporean investor whom had his R&D co set up in Malaysia, remarking on an 'over-strigent set of requirements' that had to be met before research funds would be released.
Not too sure on exactly what these requirements are though, but lets just hope that the local setups won't have to compete in an unfavourable battlefield in this new terrain of industry.
Can our Mechanical or Electrical Engineers or technicians, as well as Industrical Designers or Engineers benefit from these foreign glitzy Companies establishing their R&D centres in Singapore ?
Or will these foreign owned R&D centres benefit more by soaking up the Government Grants to conduct R&D in Singapore, only to benefit these Foreign Businesses more than Singaporeans ?
Do our Mechanical / Electrical Engineers or technicians have enough skills or experiences in contributing to HONDA Motorcycle Designs or BMW Future Automobiles ?
Singapore has no history of motorcycle or automobile manufacturing, and the closest that any educational institution got close to these oil slick mode of transport was made by the previous Vocational Institute along Balestier Road.
Well, pretty much of what Atobe has mentioned about SG engineers lacking in fundamental know hows of the new automobile industry is true.
However, we would still have to start from scratch somewhere right?
After all, Jurong Island would be here today if somebody didn't didn't learnt from the beginning when the petroluem refining industry was being brought in during the early days.
The earlier phase of any technology transfer would always seemed to benefit the foreign firms on surface in the beginning. At the end of the day however, you can safely bet on it that chances are, we'll still have the last laugh ultimately.
After all, having seen so much ripples changes in the domestic business environment, who would believe that the ultimate finale of 'local cannibalization' as seen in the opening up of the telecommunication industry and more recently, airlines, would not occur again?
Always trust the guys in Temasak Holdings to have their typical ingenious interception plans ready.
with the thais having designs on their very own suez canal, it's time we started branching out to areas other than trading.