DuPont business HQ to open in Singapore next year

BANGKOK – Science company DuPont yesterday announced that its first research and development (R&D) facility and business headquarters in the ASEAN region will be operational next year.

Hsing Ho, DuPont ASEAN group managing director, said the new business and R&D hub would be built in Singapore and will benefit and support all the market segments in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines. s

The hub will focus on food and agriculture, industrial bio-sciences and advanced materials.

“The new corporate facility will bring science, innovation and marketing under one roof. With this hub, DuPont will bring technology to the doorsteps of our customers, enabling their growth and strengthening our leadership as a science company,” Hsing said in a media briefing held in DuPont’s Innovation Center in Bangkok.

He said the R&D center would be launched in Singapore’s Biopolis R&D hub. The Biopolis vicinity is home to large corporations, many of which are the company’s customers. 

“It will serve as ASEAN’s science and technology hub. This means easy access even to other countries, to our customers including those in the Philippines. There are non-stop flights from the Philippines going to Singapore,” Hsing said.

DuPont has invested consistently in ASEAN for the past 40 years, with 2014 marking its new investments in the region: DuPont Pioneer’s hybrid corn seed production plant in Lamphun, Thailand; DuPont Myanmar office in Yangon; and a new joint site in Singapore supplying products to agriculture and electronics customers.

It has a total of 13 production plants in the region and corporate offices in almost all ASEAN member states as Hsing pointed out that the ASEAN continues to rank among DuPont’s three largest sub-regions in Asia Pacific.

Hsing said the agriculture and food business can potentially surpass other businesses in the region in terms of revenue growth.

“Demand for food is rising as ASEAN population increases from 630 million to over 700 million in 2030. The rising middle class will mean increasing demand for healthier and nutritious food,” he explained.