General Motors International today announced the opening of its new headquarters in Singapore, which will serve as the HQ for GM’s operations in Africa, Australia, India, Southeast Asia, South Korea and the Middle East. GM announced in November of last year that it would open a new facility in Singapore to separate its international operations from its business ventures in China.
GM president Dan Amman said the new headquarters were opened in order to tap into the long-term growth opportunity presented by emerging markets such as the Middle East. Singapore is a prime location as many of the markets the new main building will support are within a relatively close proximity to the city.
“More or less, all markets are 7 to 8 hours of reach from Singapore. Singapore offers a great infrastructure and offers an easy entry into the city to establish a regional hub. And maybe most important it offers a vast amount of talent which we could recruit here for our operations,” said Stefan Jacoby, GM International President.
Jacoby acknowledged that the opening of the new headquarters marks the beginning of an uphill battle for GMIO. As of right now, many of GM’s business ventures in emerging markets are not profitable, especially those in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. In order to improve, the company will begin to look at changing its business model, Jacoby said.
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