What 25 years on Jurong Island taught three industry leaders

Koh Chiap Khiong, president and CEO of Gas and Related Services at Sembcorp Industries, recalls taking a boat to and from Jurong Island. “Everyone had to get off work on time, because if you missed the boat back, that’s it,” he joked.

Those were the days before the “causeway” between the Singapore mainland and Jurong Island was built.

Back then, the environment on Jurong Island was harsh and construction was everywhere. From seven reclaimed islands to a 3,000-hectare integrated hub home to over 100 energy and chemicals companies, the island has since transformed.

But for many like Chiap Khiong, what made Jurong Island work was not just infrastructure but the kampung¹ spirit: a shared culture of community, collaboration, and partnership.

At the Jurong Island 25^th Anniversary Dinner held on 24 November 2025, Chiap Khiong, Claus Rettig, interim CFO and Asia president at Evonik, and Andre Khor, group CFO and deputy CEO at Aster, discussed the role of Jurong Island in a low carbon future. The three executives, who have witnessed the island’s transformation from petrochemical powerhouse to a specialty chemicals and sustainable materials hub, recounted the early days on the island and the valuable partnerships formed over the years. The panel was moderated by Josephine Moh, senior vice president of Energy & Renewables at EDB.
 

Jurong Island’s “kampung” spirit – an ethos of collaboration

In the 1980s, at the turn of Singapore’s industrial manufacturing phase, the Singapore government had a bold idea – to create a thriving, integrated hub for energy and chemicals from seven small southern islands. The newly formed island was envisioned to anchor a new engine of Singapore’s industrial growth. From its early days, Jurong Island brought together local champions like Sembcorp and the Singapore Petroleum Company, and global giants like Shell, Sumitomo Chemical, and ExxonMobil (then known as Esso).

Sembcorp was one of the companies that started as a utilities provider on the Island. Chiap Khiong, who was the Finance Head of Sembcorp’s utilities business then, said being on Jurong Island meant staying connected with all their customers who were also on the island.

Claus, who witnessed the building of Evonik’s first Jurong Island plant in 2008, echoed this sentiment, “all our projects on Jurong Island were always on time, always on budget – I remember that fondly.” He attributes this to the ecosystem, which, he says, extends beyond the island to include the broader logistics partners and supporting government agencies, like JTC and EDB.

Andre says, “Jurong Island truly embodies the story of Singapore – resilience, grit, and the courage to reinvent and collaborate for the future – and Aster is proud to carry that spirit forward. Within the Jurong Island ecosystem, we have the privilege of partnering with EDB and JTC, while building new collaborations across the region. Together, we extend the legacy of Jurong Island and the connected Pulau Bukom refinery to create new opportunities for our 1,600 colleagues and drive the transition toward cleaner, more sustainable energy and chemicals.”

Reinventing for a low-carbon future

This collaborative culture has shaped the island, but it is now being tested by a new challenge – decarbonisation pressures and rising demand for greener products. Jurong Island must reinvent itself to stay competitive.

In a press release to mark the 25^th anniversary of Jurong Island, EDB and JTC specifically called out specialty chemicals and sustainable materials as a key focus area. The regional demand for higher quality products in consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, electronics, and advanced materials has fuelled the entry of players like Arkema, Cariflex, and Kuraray. Since 2021, over 30 new specialty chemicals projects across manufacturing and R&D have been set up in Singapore, with majority of them on Jurong Island. 

For example, in August 2025, Evonik inaugurated a new alkoxides production facility on Jurong Island. Designed to operate with net-zero scope 1 and scope 2 emissions, the plant produces catalysts used in sustainable biodiesel production from vegetable oils and used cooking oil. It is Evonik’s first such facility in Asia and completes the company’s global production network.

Staying pragmatic about Jurong Island’s transformation

If there’s one theme that unites all three panellists, it’s pragmatism about what the transition will require – sustainability, in both the environmental and business sense of the word.

Claus articulated the need to balance pursuing sustainability with affordability quite plainly. “It has to be competitive. If it’s not, you cannot sell the product around the world,” he says.

Chiap Khiong agreed. While this is a new turning point for Jurong Island, it’s important to make use of the core infrastructure as the foundation for the next phase. It’s also important to retain the sense of community. He emphasised: “build scale, lower cost, and everybody wins!”

For Andre, “rejuvenating existing infrastructure” includes updating and digitalising operations, as well as investing in new technologies and strategic partnerships. Just earlier in November 2025, Aster signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Aether Fuels, to construct Southeast Asia’s first next-generation commercial-scale sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant on Pulau Bukom.

Other recent developments point to where the island is heading – hosting Singapore’s largest utility-scale energy storage system – the Sembcorp Energy Storage System, Singapore’s largest ground-mounted solar project – the Sembcorp Jurong Island Solar Farm, and setting aside 20 hectares for a low-carbon data centre with up to 700 megawatts (MW) of capacity. Claus calls this one of the “most exciting developments” on the horizon – not a departure of the island’s chemical heritage, but an extension of it.

“AI will transform the competitiveness in the chemical industry... Besides, we might be able to use the heat that’s produced by the data centres” – an example of the industrial synergies that has defined Jurong Island’s ecosystem.
 

One wish for Jurong Island

For Chiap Khiong, it’s about keeping the collaborative spirit that built the island, to stay ahead of tomorrow’s problems.

Claus had two wishes. The first is to keep the ecosystem working well. The second, he says with a smile, “a second link into the island would be nice!”

Andre kept it simple: “Focus on making the chemical industry greener, energy cleaner, and the buses and checkpoints smoother!”

As Jurong Island enters the next stage of its growth, its transformation will depend not only on the new technologies and infrastructure, but on the collaborative culture that made the first 25 years a success.

Meet six pioneers who have witnessed the growth of Jurong Island, from its earliest days as seven islets to the industrial powerhouse it is today: