PM Lee Hsien Loong at the Opening of the Renewable Energy Corporation’s Integrated Solar Manufacturing Complex

May I congratulate Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) on its grand opening of the integrated solar manufacturing facility. It is one of the largest ever investments we have had in Singapore. So far in Phase 1 of the project, REC has already invested S$2.5 billion and when it is fully operational, the plant and the suppliers onsite will generate 1,700 high quality jobs.

Singapore’s Clean Energy Strategy

This new complex is a key piece in Singapore’s Clean Energy strategy. 3 years ago in 2007, we identified Clean Energy as a major growth area for our economy. There is not yet a global deal on climate change but many countries worldwide are studying various Clean Energy options, pursuing all possibilities, seeking a breakthrough. I believe these efforts to tackle climate change will span decades because even if there are breakthroughs, we would need successive advances and successive explorations, and new approaches to meet new needs. Singapore can position ourselves for this long term development, contributing to global energy solutions while tapping the economic spinoffs.

We have developed a blueprint to grow our Clean Energy industry, to attract high-value, capital intensive investments in manufacturing, to develop the base of equipment companies and other suppliers, to build up strong R&D to support technologies and innovation. Therefore, we launched the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) two years ago in 2008. SERIS has embarked on research projects with leading industry players including REC. We hope through these initiatives to grow Singapore into the leading Asian Hub for system integration and project development, and therefore the Government has committed $350 million to support efforts in this sector

Our Clean Energy blueprint follows a cluster strategy. We have developed world-class industries by clustering companies with complementary strengths – electronics, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and now we are applying this model to the Clean Energy sector. This strategy of clusters is unfortunately no secret. In fact many other countries are trying to adopt it too and therefore it is critical for us not only to have the strategy but to implement it well, to play to our strengths, for example, leveraging on existing strengths in electronics and silicon and semi conductors and to go into solar energy and solar cells silicon technology.

Investing in our Workforce

But the most critical strength which we have which we bring to bear in all of these initiatives is the Singapore worker. It underpins our competitiveness and is the major reason why many companies, particularly high-tech and knowledge-intensive ones choose to locate in Singapore. In fact, REC has told us as they told you just now, the key reason why they chose Singapore over many, many other possibilities is our highly skilled and motivated workforce at all levels – managers, engineers, technicians and operators. Our workers have not disappointed. This facility was completed under budget, and ramped up ahead of schedule, exceeding the parent company’s expectations. And now the plant is the best-in-class among REC’s global operations. REC’s Peak Energy Module manufactured in Singapore was recently awarded the Solar Industry Award in Europe. I congratulate the entire REC team for their remarkable achievements within a very short period of operations.

We have got to work hard in Singapore to maintain this advantage because skills, innovation and productivity are our basis for sustaining economic growth and for raising the living standards of our people.

The Government is putting billions of dollars into Continuing Education and Training to encourage workers to attend courses and upgrade their skills and we will continue to develop manpower for the Clean Energy industry. We are offering postgraduate scholarships to top universities, we are running Clean Energy diploma courses in our polytechnics and we also have the Continuing Education and Training programmes by the Workforce Development Agency (WDA). In total, we expect to train over 2,000 specialists in the next 5 years through these initiatives.

Conclusion

REC’s opening today marks a milestone in the development of the Clean Energy sector in Singapore. I am confident that they will see strong growth and we will work with Clean Energy companies to seize these opportunities. I wish REC every success in this and in all their future endeavours in Singapore and around the world.