Baby Products a Growth Area for Firms

Source: AsiaOne.com by Joy Fang

SINGAPORE – Singapore firms could focus on four key industries when going abroad, including the baby products and services industry, said Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang yesterday.

The others are the pharmaceutical, silver and logistics-service industries.

He explained that these are high-growth areas with opportunities for those seeking to tap on Asia’s growth.

Staying open to tap global opportunities is vital in achieving growth. To do so, it is important to bring in new activities, as well as take Singapore’s companies out into the region, he said.

For the pharmaceutical industry, he said it offers high wages and employs over 5,700 people, with 80 per cent performing skilled jobs in Singapore. He highlighted the field of biologics, a niche area in the industry “that has been gaining momentum”.

Singapore has eight biologics labs since the first was set up in 2007.

The biologics field will create some 500 jobs, such as for chemists and microbiologists, over the next three to five years.

Baby-related products is another growing segment, “fuelled mainly by the population boom in Asia and the rising middle class”, said Mr Lim.

Singapore has become an established hub for commercial and innovation activities in baby nutrition and baby care, with many top players – Nestle Nutrition, Mead Johnson and Abbott Nutrition – establishing themselves here, he noted.

Procter & Gamble also recently relocated its global headquarters for baby care, including its Pampers brand, here.

The silver industry also has potential as parts of Asia, including Singapore, “are ageing and driving consumer spending”, he said.