SINGAPORE: US tech giant Google officially unveiled its new Singapore office located at Mapletree Business City on Thursday (Nov 10).
The Singapore office, which serves as Google’s Asia-Pacific headquarters, was previously located at Asia Square Tower 1 in the Central Business District.
Google started operations in Singapore with only 24 people in 2007. The team has since grown to 1,000, and is its fastest-growing office in Asia Pacific.
Commenting on the move to its new four-storey office, vice-president of product management Caesar Sengupta said the company needs “room for 1,000 Googlers working on new products and projects across Asia for our users, customers and partners”. Most of its senior management team overseeing Asia-Pacific operations are also based in Singapore.
Mr Sengupta added that Google will expand its engineering team here to support its vision of reaching out to the next billion Internet users, while focusing on various operations such as sales, partnerships and marketing.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who was present at the opening, said: “We hope you’ll be able to bring with you the spirit and energy and connections, not just in Mountain View but also in other campuses around the world, to this campus in Singapore.
“Tech is disruptive and your objective is to disrupt the world. We expect to be disrupted but we want to make sure we come out on the right side of disruption, and we depend on you to do that,” he added.
PM Lee Hsien Loong posing for a wefie with the crowd. (Photo: Calvin Hui)
Minister of Trade and Industry (Industry) S Iswaran described the opening of Google’s new office as a milestone and “testament to Google’s significant growth over the past decade”.
Mr Iswaran also said the focus on the digital economy and partnerships with companies like Google will create opportunities for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore to enter online and global markets.
He gave an example of how local winter wear retailer Coldwear benefited from its collaboration with Google under the tech giant’s “Go Global” initiative. Using the Google platform, Coldwear was able to leverage search engine marketing tools to reach more customers in Indonesia, and increase its sales in the country by more than 30 per cent.
GETTING YOUNG SINGAPOREANS EXCITED ABOUT TECH
Google also announced that it will roll out a new programme, Code in the Community, in Singapore next January. The multi-year computer science and computational thinking course will provide training for about 3,000 young Singaporeans from less well-to-do backgrounds over the next three years.
Mr Sengupta said the new programme is part of Google’s aim to help inspire young Singaporeans and get them excited about technology and engineering.
Google will be partnering self-help groups such as the Chinese Development Assistance Council, Singapore Indian Development Association, Mendaki and the Eurasian Association to hold weekend classes for kids aged eight to 15, with an equal mix of boys and girls.
