On 7 November 2019, American conglomerate General Electric (GE) announced that it will invest up to US$60 million (S$81.4 million) to develop its gas turbine repair capabilities in Singapore. The investment will be channelled into a new Global Repair Engineering and Development Centre for High-efficiency, Air-cooled (HA) gas turbines over the next 10 years. The new centre will be GE’s largest repair site globally in terms of production volume, and the first outside the Americas. It will begin repairing components in the first quarter of 2021, and is expected to add 160 advanced manufacturing jobs in Singapore.
GE APAC President and Chief Executive Officer Mr Wouter Van Wersch said that there is “a great workforce, very strong customers and partners” in Singapore, and added that GE works with local subcontractors and suppliers for materials and equipment. GE Gas Power APAC Chief Operating Officer Mr Jim Vono noted that the new facility in Singapore is expected to reduce repair times for customers in Asia by up to two months, as components will not have to be shipped back and forth from the United States.
Dr Beh Swan Gin, Chairman of Singapore Economic Development Board, said that GE’s new centre can tap the strong engineering pool in Singapore and build up a team of highly skilled repair development engineers. Dr Beh also added that GE’s investment will be an “important long-term contributor to Singapore’s industrial output and support the Government’s commitment to maintaining manufacturing at 20 per cent of Singapore’s economy”.
