On 2 July, German conglomerate thyssenkrupp officially launched its Additive Manufacturing TechCenter Hub in Singapore. It will serve as the regional hub for the company's existing Mülheim TechCenter Hub in Germany and will focus on additive manufacturing solutions in metal and plastic technologies for customers in marine and offshore, automotive, cement, chemical, mining and other heavy industries. The TechCenter Hub is supported by EDB, following the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement earlier in April at the Hannover Messe trade show.

Mr Lim Kok Kiang, Assistant Managing Director, Singapore Economic Development Board, who was the Guest-of-Honour of the launch held at Shangri-La Hotel, said established local industries such as petrochemicals can aid the development of additive manufacturing in Singapore. He added that the numerous collaboration opportunities across ASEAN will increasingly become an important manufacturing base for companies from elsewhere.

In conjunction with the launch, thyssenkrupp also presented a white paper on the potential of additive manufacturing in ASEAN. The paper estimates that additive manufacturing will generate around US$100 billion of incremental value by 2025, impacting ASEAN's projected real GDP by 1.5 to 2 per cent. It is also said that the technology could create three to four million jobs in ASEAN by 2030, and reduce the region's imports by US$30 billion to US$50 billion.

Mr Jan Lueder, CEO of thyssenkrupp Regional Headquarters Asia Pacific, was quoted by the media saying that “Additive manufacturing will surely be an innovative solution to further drive growth in ASEAN,” and that the company found a supportive ecosystem in Singapore, a key reason in thyssenkrupp “establishing our first additive manufacturing TechCenter Hub outside of Germany.”