Jurong Island

📷: JTC Corporation

#TIL that Jurong Island was formed into one large island from several smaller offshore islets in order to propel Singapore forward as a global petrochemicals player in the Energy & Chemicals (E&C) sector.

23 years since its opening #onthisday, this S$7 billion investment has paid off handsomely for Singapore. Today, Jurong Island is the 8th largest exporter of chemicals globally. It has also attracted over S$50 billion worth of investment, with more than over 100 leading global companies employing more than 27,000 persons, many of whom include Singaporeans.

The E&C sector is also proving to be a lucrative avenue for Singapore’s economic growth – in 2020, it contributed around 3% of Singapore’s GDP. Furthermore, this sector is projected to play a vital role in supporting domestic and global needs in the medium future, with companies on Jurong Island producing chemicals needed to manufacture everyday necessities such as diapers, plastics, and pharmaceuticals.

So how did this vision of “Jurong Island” come about?

In the 1980s, the government had conceived the idea of developing Singapore’s southern islands to propel Singapore to become the region’s premier chemical processing hub. This was especially so when the government recognised the pressing need for Singapore to diversify away from electronics manufacturing—one of Singapore’s key exports then—due to global market shifts. This vision became a reality in the 1990s. Under the leadership of JTC Corporation, physical land reclamation began in 1995, and was officially opened in 2000 with a combined land area of 30 sq km (the original islets had a combined land area of 9.91 sq km). The opening of such a major chemical processing facility puts Singapore in a strong position to capture the continued growth of the E&C industry.

That said, Jurong Island also recognises the impact of its E&C industry on the environment, and has taken steps to mitigate the impact of the industry on climate change and harness sustainability as a competitive advantage.

For a start, Jurong Island will be gradually transformed into a sustainable energy and chemicals park under the Green Economy pillar of the Singapore Green Plan 2030. Under this vision, Jurong Island aims to increase the output of sustainable products by 1.5 times from 2019 levels, ensure that its refineries and crackers are in the top quartile of the world in terms of energy efficiency, and realise at least 2 million tonnes of carbon capture. In the meantime, Jurong Island will research into capabilities such as Low-Carbon Hydrogen to promote decarbonisation and sustainable growth beyond 2030.

From its conceptualisation, building, completion, and future plans to ensure sustainable growth, Jurong Island stands as a symbol of Singapore’s far-sightedness, boldness, innovation, and can-do attitude – traits that will be important for Singapore as we continue to progress into the future.

#TIL #onthisday #JurongIsland #JTC #innovation #progress #Singapore #SingaporeGreenPlan2030

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