ingapore's ability to attract R&D centers and the regional headquarters of multinationals is as vital as ever, even with fierce competition from Hong Kong and the looming Iskandar Development Region in southern Malaysia. The latter, just over the Singapore Straits in Malaysia's Johor Bahru state, will offer veritable cities of new space, education and medical institutions and much more (see the Malaysia editorial survey in the September 2007 issue).
      Whether a city is new or established, new investment means new population growth and greater urbanization of economies. How much growth can cities sustain? At what point are they ruled out of consideration because they have become too congested? Singapore is actively working on these issues, because it intends to keep winning R&D centers and other projects. In fact, the government has identified "Urban Solutions" as a growth theme as it balances inward direct investment and environmental sustainability.
      "Urbanization is a global megatrend that will have an impact on the lives of many," noted Mr. S. Iswaran, the city-state's senior minister of state for trade and industry, at an event September 3rd where Germany's Bosch Group announced it would establish its Asia-Pacific regional headquarters for Research and Advance Engineering in Singapore. "It presents both challenges and opportunities for companies and countries that seek to make a difference. Singapore, as the quintessential urban city, constantly searches for innovative solutions to ensure that we remain an attractive and livable city. Over the years, we have developed expertise in several areas such as urban planning, traffic management, public housing and water supply, to name a few. Many of the solutions that we have developed will be applicable to emerging cities around the world."       One of the areas of focus for Bosch's new center will be environmental sustainability, so the minister used the occasion to unveil a new component of the Urban Solutions platform, the Living Laboratory.
      "Under the Urban Solutions initiative, the Singapore Economic Development Board [EDB] and partner agencies will create developmental platforms to encourage companies to use Singapore as a 'Living Laboratory' – to test, prove, adapt and implement solutions in Singapore before exporting these to the rest of the world," he explained. "A good example is how, over the years, we have opened up our water infrastructure for companies to test, develop and implement innovative water technology which has then been exported to emerging markets like China, India, Vietnam and the Middle East."
      EDB plans to provide companies like Bosch with "the ideal environment to test the innovative solutions they develop," said Minister Iswaran. "In this regard, I am glad to note that Bosch has already started some R&D collaboration with Nanyang Technological University. As we develop the various platforms to support the Urban Solutions initiative, there will be even greater opportunities for collaboration in areas such as urban mobility, green buildings and security, among others."
      Bosch will invest about US$20 million in a laboratory and high-tech equipment over the next five years. In 2007, the company set up its computing center and IT R&D facility in Singapore to provide central IT services to more than 200 Bosch locations in the Asia-Pacific region.
      "We believe that the Asia-Pacific region has much untapped potential in the area of R&D, and we foresee that the new regional headquarters located in Singapore will play a vital part in realizing our research targets in this part of the world," said Uwe Raschke, Bosch board member for Asia Pacific.
      Meanwhile, Taiwan-based Lite-On Technology Corp. opened its regional headquarters and R&D center in Singapore in July, where it will develop products for its Optical Communication Solutions business unit. The company makes digital displays, imaging products, power supplies and LEDs. In August, Indiana-based medical technology developer Hill-Rom opened its Asia-Pacific Innovation Center in Singapore, which will supplement R&D work being done at two locations in France. Hill-Rom researchers in Singapore are working on projects involving microelectronics, embedded software and electro-mechanical systems.