ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY IN SINGAPORE

Mr Ng Kah Ting asked the Minister for Finance whether he is aware that in Singapore there are very few electronic component factories to support the electronics assembly factories; and if he has any plans to encourage the setting up of electronic component factories or plants so as to lessen dependence upon imported electronic components and ensure the availability of supply.

The Senior Minister of State for Finance (Mr Goh Chok Tong) (for the Minister for Finance): Mr Speaker, Sir, there are in fact more companies in Singapore manufacturing electronic components than assembling electronic finished products. Out of about 125 electronics manufacturing companies, there are about 65 producing electronic components. Similarly, in dollar value, output of electronic components exceeds output of electronic finished products. The latest available detailed figures from the Statistics Department show that in 1976 the total output of electronic products and components amounted to about $1.9 billion and, out of this, more than $1 billion was output of electronic components.

For a transistor radio, all the electronic components, except one, are manufactured in Singapore. The remaining component, the ferrite antenna bar, is likely to be manufactured locally by next year. Similarly, the majority of components for television sets, tape-recorders, electronic calculators and electronic watches are manufactured locally.

It has always been one of the major objectives of the Economic Development Board to encourage further integration of the electronics industry. Arising from encouragement by the Economic Development Board, there are plans by more companies to manufacture components in Singapore, especially key components such as television tuners and picture tubes for television sets; cassette mechanisms, micromotors and magnetic heads for tape-recorders; liquid crystal displays for calculators and watches, and quartz crystals for watches. Some of these plans are already being implemented.

While we should encourage key components to be manufactured in Singapore, we cannot expect to be entirely self-sufficient. The electronics industry is such that there are literally thousands of types of components. The United States and Japan, which have the largest electronics industries in the world, import electronic components. Hong Kong, which has the world's largest production of radios and radio components, imports some radio components from Singapore. That is the nature of the electronics industry.