Siemens rides on coat-tails of Singapore's city state success

By Duncan Bridgeman

Friday 14th June 2002

STYLE WITH TECHNOLOGY: Singapore's Capital Tower

The Capital Tower building in Singapore might look like any other high-rise but underneath its striking exterior there's enough technology to control a small city.

Stepping into the lift is like entering a space capsule. Five of the 35 lifts are special double-decker shuttles capable of reaching speeds of more than 5m/sec. Global positioning plots your ascent while CNN business news blasts out through a rather low-positioned television screen.

Being the first of a new generation of intelligent buildings, Capital Tower was a fitting place for German company Siemens to take journalists during its annual press conference.

One of Germany's oldest and most enduring companies, Siemens provided the building automation for the 52-storey building, including air-conditioning and ventilation systems, video surveillance, parking-space monitoring and fire-security systems.

The contract, completed in 2000, complemented Siemens' other Singapore projects, including work for Cisco Systems, Changi Airport and Credit Suisse First Boston.

The company has made a big move into Asia-Pacific in the past three years and Siemens Building Technologies chief executive and president Oscar Ronner said the company had established itself as a market leader in this part of the world.

Siemens Building Technologies recorded worldwide sales revenues of more than E5.5 billion last financial year - an annual growth rate of 14% for its first three years in business. The corresponding figure for Asia-Pacific was 18%, with significant gains in market share.

Little wonder then that 35 of the 130 journalists hosted at the Singapore press conference were from Asia-Pacific.

Mr Ronner said the region was of major strategic significance for the company.

"This is where the most modern buildings featuring the latest technology are being built. Anyone aiming to be world market leader has to occupy a leading position here."

That's why Singapore, with its remarkable transformation from third-world to rich status over the past 30 years, was the ideal place for Siemens to hold its conference.

Following independence in 1965 Singapore was left with an inadequate, dilapidated infrastructure, low savings, low productive capacity in its national economy and an undisciplined, crime-ridden multicultural population.

But under its then newly elected prime minister, Lee Kwan Yew, the city state was transformed into what is now one of the most competitive nations in the world with gross domestic product of $S153 billion.

Despite the Asian crisis and more recent global downturns, Singapore is expected to become the world's richest nation by 2020.

Bulldozers flattened Singapore's sleazy areas and new public housing was thrown up. The numerous clean-up campaigns, harsh no-spitting laws and moral education for all pupils followed by national service became part of a concerted effort to make people think of Singapore first and themselves second.

And while Singapore looks good now, there are plans to build the infrastructure further.

Tan See Nin, head of strategic planning at Singapore's Urban Development Authority, spoke of the city's future physical development programme.

"We aim to develop Singapore into a truly distinctive and memorable city for both our residents and visitors," he said, unleashing on the media the controversial 2001 concept plan for the island.

The plan maps out the vision of Singapore for the next 50 years based on a population scenario of 5.5 million. With only 660sq km of land to work with, major space restrictions due to military training grounds and height restrictions because of aviation requirements, the expanding economy creates incredible challenges.

But future land reclamation will increase the island's existing size by another 15%, adding valuable space for the city's burgeoning financial district.

For Siemens Building Technologies the plan is worth taking note of.

The concept makes provisions for high-value-added industries the company specialises in, such as electronics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, biomedical sciences and engineering. And to support the increase in activities in the central area, a denser and more comprehensive rail network is planned.

With security a major priority for developing transport systems, Siemens is positioned to benefit from increasing demand for its closed-circuit TV camera systems as well as fire and security products and ventilation and cooling mechanisms.

By the year 2010, Mr Tan said, about 67% of Singapore would be urbanised, with new towns and developments adding to Singapore's identity. You could see the smiles on the faces of Mr Ronner and his Siemens' colleagues from the back of the vast conference room at Singapore's Shangri-La Hotel.

Back on the 52nd floor of the Capital Tower in downtown Singapore, the view is breathtaking.

On one side the South China Sea lies littered with container ships waiting to enter the world's second-biggest port. To the north, Singapore's business district towers over a sea of apartment buildings stretching from one end of the island to the other before disappearing in the permanent heat haze that shrouds the city.

But still the unmistakable feature is the presence of construction. Endless sky cranes jut out from the city floor, relentlessly adding more and more cement to Singapore's concrete jungle.

Duncan Bridgeman travelled to Singapore as a guest of Siemens

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