Over the past few months, several ICT multinationals have set up their regional headquarters in Singapore, attracted by the stable economy, robust ICT infrastructure and strategic location.

Mr Hansjoerg Wagner, EDB's Assistant Managing Director Manohar Khiatani and US Ambassador Patricia L. Herbold officiate at the opening of Polycom's new regional HQ.

• Unified collaborative communications solutions vendor Polycom (http://www.polycom.com/) set up its Asia Pacific headquarters here in June to oversee its financial, sales and marketing, legal, order management, IT and HR operations in the region. According to Mr Hansjoerg Wagner, Vice President of Sales and Managing Director for Asia Pacific, the company's decision to locate its Asia Pacific headquarters here was influenced by Singapore's strategic focus on infocomm and its central location in the region. Polycom, which currently has more than 40 employees in Singapore, expects to boost its head count here to 55 by year end.



• Network solutions company Harris Stratex Networks (http://www.harrisstratex.com/) opened its 12,500 sq ft international headquarters (IHQ) here in June to serve as a global logistics and procurement centre. The IHQ will also overseee other day-to-day operations such as finance, sales, distribution, technical support, and supply chain management. The company also plans to establish an R&D centre focused on software development at its new IHQ. Harris Stratex Networks, which currently has 12 employees in Singapore, plans to grow this to over 60 employees within 24 to 36 months.



• Internet search giant Google (http://www.google.com/) opened its Singapore office in May to serve the local and Southeast Asian markets. According to Google, the new office will enable it to bring its advertising platform, services and search experience more effectively to users, advertisers and partners in the region. Richard Kimber, Managing Director, Southeast Asia, Google, pointed out that Singapore has one of the highest Internet penetration rates in the world, with more than 71 per cent of households having online access. The Google Singapore office will focus primarily on serving both Google AdWords and Google AdSense customers.