On 11 January 2019, Becton Dickinson (BD) marked its 30th anniversary of manufacturing in Singapore with the opening of the company’s first Advanced Molding Center in Asia. The Advanced Molding Center, built within BD’s primary facility in Tuas, is part of the company’s US$5.2 million transformation journey. The Center is a flagship plastic molding manufacturing facility for BD in Asia, and is one of the largest and most sophisticated plastic molding plants in the world for the company. 

In his opening remarks as GOH, Minister for Trade and Industry Mr Chan Chun Sing emphasized that manufacturing will remain a key part of Singapore’s economy although there will be greater disruption in the year ahead. He shared a positive outlook on the industry, citing Singapore’s advantages such as a resilient supply chain and strong IP regimes. He also highlighted that manufacturing can continue to expand if the industry is closely tied to research and development, a process that would will also enrich the country overall. 

Mr Chan also pointed out that company performance or economic growth cannot be an end to itself, and that workers must benefit from this through picking up new skills and upgrading their quality of life, citing BD as a positive example. This was supported by BD plant management director Hashim Baba’s remarks to the media, citing his company's culture of specialised training and worker development as reasons why he stayed with the firm since it set up its Singapore headquarters three decades ago.