Singapore, Apr 20, 2010: In order to meet the growing demand of skilled manpower in biomedical manufacturing industry, the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA), in collaboration with Singapore Polytechnic (SP), Millipore Singapore and DPS Engineering, has developed the Workforce Skills Qualifications WSQ Higher Certificate in Process Technology (Biologics Manufacturing) and WSQ Higher Certificate in Process Technology (Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing).

The partnership is formally sealed with the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) that aims to provide full certification training, as well as to strengthen good working ties among the training partners and facilitate sharing of resources. An alliance that is formed by SP, Millipore and DPS, the Biomedical Manufacturing Implementation Committee (BMIC) has trained about 300 people in five biologics manufacturing modules to date and is set to offer 1,040 places in the next 2 years.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Lee Yi Shyan, Minister of State for Manpower, Trade and Industry, Singapore said, “The MOC marks an important step towards the upgrading of skills of our workforce in the biologics manufacturing industry. Singapore is a leading site in Asia for biologics manufacturing. With the formalisation of the strategic alliance of BMIC, we are taking another positive step in deepening the talent pool of a skilled workforce. I would strongly encourage the industry to leverage this excellent initiative to build capabilities and skills.”

Adding his views on the MOC, Mr Gerard Creaner, Deputy Chairman of DPS Engineering (Singapore), said, “we are delighted that this partnership will deliver both increased productivity for the biomedical manufacturing industry as well as improved career progression opportunities for the trainees.”

Mr Chan Heng Kee, Chief Executive of WDA, said, “Despite being a relatively new industry to our economy, the biomedical manufacturing industry is already employing more than 13,000 people, and more investments are expected from major companies, such as Baxter, GSK Biologicals, Lonza and Roche. When the new plants are operational in the next few years, another 1,000 jobs for skilled engineers, technicians and other occupations will be created. WDA is pleased to play a part in helping the companies to meet their manpower needs and Singaporeans to seize these career opportunities.”

With the MOC signing, more platforms have been opened to coordinate and speed up implementation efforts of WSQ training and facilitate sharing of specialised skills training and knowledge exchange among training providers and companies.

Mr. Brian Yau, Vice President of Asia Bioprocess Division, Millipore Singapore Pte Ltd, said, “In this spirit, we have developed training courses which are designed to teach the best practice techniques for robust and consistent operations and optimisation of process steps. Our facility has pilot equipment to cater to real-life, hands-on training on process operations and we believe all this can be translated into effective partnership with Singapore Polytechnic and DPS Engineering Pte Ltd to support both current and future requirements of the biomedical manufacturing industry in Singapore.