Medtronic opens manufacturing facility in Singapore

Medtronic opens manufacturing facility in Singapore
By Stella Lee | Posted: 10 March 2011 2143 hrs

SINGAPORE : Medtronic, the largest maker of heart devices globally, opened a new manufacturing facility in Singapore on Thursday.

The unit, in which Medtronic will have invested a total of S$71 million by the end of this year, will give a further boost to Singapore's standing as a biomedical sciences hub.

The Singapore facility, which will make sophisticated cardiac devices, will employ more than 120 people by the end of 2011.

According to research firm Frost and Sullivan, annual sales of medical devices in Asia-Pacific will amount to US$6.3 billion by next year, accounting for a quarter of the global total.

The researcher said that by next year, medical device sales in Asia-Pacific will be growing almost twice as fast as global demand for these products.

Medtronic, which opened its regional headquarters in China recently, expects revenue from its Asian operations to grow substantially.

William A Hawkins, chairman and chief executive of Medtronic, said: "So today if you look at emerging markets, it makes up 9 per cent or 10 per cent of our total revenues, and we are projecting that in the next five years that it will double to say 20 per cent of our business for the emerging markets."

- CNA/ms

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