GERMAN industrial and consumer goods giant Robert Bosch is building a new, environmentally friendly $92 million regional headquarters (HQ) building in Singapore.
Bosch’s new 225,000 sq ft site, comprising seven floors of office space and two underground carpark levels, is located near Raffles Institution in Bishan. The building is expected to be ready by 2009.
The company had decided to build the new building, said its South-east Asian president Cem Peksaglam, to ‘create more space for growth and… consolidate our different sites in Singapore at one location’.
Bosch employs 500 staff in Singapore - up from 200 employees in 2005 - located in eight locations across the island.
When the new site is completed, the company will relocate all its staff to this place for ’synergy and easier administration’, said Mr Peksaglam.
In the last five years, Bosch had seen ‘double-digit’ sales growth in South-east Asia and he is confident about the company’s regional prospects in the near future.
It will be hiring but gradually, said Mr Peksaglam. Given the situation, Bosch will look at renting out some of the unused space - the new site has enough space for 1,200 workers - in the short run. It expects to use the entire building for itself eventually.
The building will also be a showcase of green technologies such as double glass windows and solar sensors, which will help Bosch to use 25 per cent less energy compared with a similar-sized building without such features.
Guests at the ground-breaking ceremony yesterday include Economic Development Board (EDB) chairman Lim Siong Guan and German Ambassador to Singapore Folkmar Stoecker.
It ‘means a lot that a company like Bosch believes in Singapore’, said Mr Lim.
He said that Bosch’s continued investment is a strong endorsement of Singapore and that the EDB is ‘always ready to help wherever we can’.
Bosch maintains a computer data centre that serves 200 locations in the region.
The Republic is also Bosch’s information technology research and development centre, as well as its regional headquarters for corporate research.
Source : Straits Times - 13 Dec 2007
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