Research and digitalisation are key to the future of our built environment.
The Kajima Global Hub. Photo: Kajima Corporation
JTC Corporation (JTC) is the lead agency in Singapore to spearhead the planning, promotion and development of a dynamic industrial landscape. Since its inception in 1968, JTC has played a major role in Singapore’s economic development journey by developing land and space to support the transformation of industries and create quality jobs.
Major Japanese general contractor Kajima Corp. has chosen Singapore as the location to build its first self-owned overseas office building.
Kajima, one of Japan’s oldest and largest construction companies, broke ground on its new Kajima Global Hub at Changi Business Park on 27 August. This is its first and only overseas innovation centre which will also serve as its Asia Pacific HQ.
The company will invest S$1 billion ($732 million) in the construction of Kajima Global Hub, including a research institute, near Changi Airport with it scheduled for completion in 2023.
An integral part of Singapore’s economy, the construction sector accounts for 3.7% of GDP and contributes to 12.1% of total employment in 2019, according to the Singapore Department of Statistics and Manpower Research and Statistics Department. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) had projected expected growth in the sector to be between S$27b to S$35b over the next four years.
Kajima’s investment comes at a crucial time as the built environment sector takes a hard hit from the effects of COVID-19. Circuit breaker measures had brought the construction sector to a virtual standstill, given its reliance on manual labour. This in turn, signals a need to re-examine processes to make them more efficient, and make construction less labour intensive. While emerging technologies like robotics, automation, and digital solutions are instrumental in the built environment sector’s recovery, wider technology adoption will also require a complementary upskilling to build a skilled and competent workforce.
www.jtc.gov.sg/news-and-publications/Kajima-Global-utm kajima