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Gemplus Celebrates Official Opening of New Facilities with Launch of Incubator Fund for Smart Card Applications
SINGAPORE, 1 November 2001 -- Gemplus, the world's number one provider of applications and services enabled by smart cards, is pleased to announce today the opening of their new Asia Pacific hub, a 20,000sqm state-of-the-art building located at Ayer Rajah.
For the first time since its operations in Singapore, all Gemplus staff - from manufacturing, R&D, management, sales and marketing to support functions - will be housed under one roof. The new building will house its manufacturing facilities, including Class 10K and 100K clean rooms and office space.
This announcement represents a major investment by Gemplus in Singapore and supports Singapore's drive to become a global centre of excellence for knowledge-driven industries.
"We are proud that even in these difficult times, Gemplus has successfully maintained its market share in Asia Pacific and its reputation globally as the world's leader in smart cards technology. Since the inception of our office in Singapore 12 years ago, Gemplus has grown significantly in Asia Pacific and globally and we attribute our success to our commitment to focus and service our customers better," said Mr Chou Fang Soong, Managing Director, Gemplus Technologies Asia Pte Ltd.
"The official opening of our new highly secured and state-of-the-art building is testament of Gemplus success and leadership as an active innovator in the smart card industry," he added.
In conjunction with the celebration, Gemplus has announced its newly-launched incubator fund for smart card applications and innovations - a joint project with EDB Investments called Gemplus - EDBV Smart Labs Pte Ltd. This incubator will focus on sourcing and nurturing innovative ideas and smart card technology applications, but it will not be limited to Gemplus' technology or Singapore start-ups.
To commemorate this joyous event, Gemplus has commissioned Grand Hyatt to concoct a non-alcoholic cocktail called 'Smart'. The beverage is a creative blend of Ginger and a golden hue.
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About Gemplus
GEMPLUS: the world's number one provider of solutions empowered by Smart Cards (Gartner Dataquest 2001, Frost & Sullivan 2001).
Gemplus helps its clients offer an exceptional range of portable, personalized solutions that bring security and convenience to people's lives. These include mobile internet access, inter-operable banking facilities, e-commerce and a wealth of other applications.
Gemplus is the only completely dedicated, truly global player in the Smart Card industry, with the largest R&D team, unrivalled experience, and an outstanding track record of technological innovation.
Gemplus trades its shares on Euronext Paris S.A. First Market and on the Nasdaq Stock Market™ as GEMP in the form of ADSs. Its revenue in 2000 was 1.205 Billion Euros. It employs 7800 people in 37 countries throughout the world.
Gemplus: Your Passport to the Digital Age ™
www.gemplus.com
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Contacts
Gemplus, Janet Loh
Manager, Marketing Communications
Tel : 65 317 3333
Fax : 65 873 7971
janet.loh-tk@gemplus.com
©2001 Gemplus All rights reserved. Gemplus,
the Gemplus logo and GemSense are trademarks and service marks of Gemplus
S.A. and are registered in certain countries. All other trademarks and
service marks, whether registered or not in specific countries, are the
property of their respective owners.
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