Bayer inaugurates Regional Innovation Hub Asia Pacific at the Polymer Research & Development Center Shanghai

“Our vision is for it to become indispensable in terms of competencies, projects and products. We are aiming to reach a global innovation footprint for Bayer and its partners by exporting China-made technology to the rest of the world by 2020,” said Patrick Thomas, CEO of Bayer MaterialScience.

The innovation hub will employ more than 200 staff and provide support to R&D facilities in Korea, Taiwan, India and Japan. It is expected to represent a full range of R&D expertise. It will also be supported by a strong network of production sites in Asia Pacific with major production sites in Shanghai, Map Ta Phut (Thailand) and Niihama (Japan).

“The inauguration of the regional innovation hub of Bayer MaterialScience is line with the promotion of indigenous innovation and enhancing R&D laid out in China’s 12^th five-year plan,” says Li Yongwu, Chairman of China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation (CPCIF). “It will contribute to the upgrading of China’s petrochemical industry.”

The regional innovation hub works on the principle of open innovation and strives to further expand collaboration with external technology partners such as academia, suppliers and customers in China and throughout the Asia Pacific region.

Asia Pacific is among the strongest growth regions for Bayer MaterialScience and accounted for EUR 3.15 billion sales in 2012. This growth is mainly driven by increasing demand from infrastructure projects and domestic demand for cars, electronic consumer goods and new housing from an affluent emerging middle class. Greater urbanization further drives construction and mobility demands. At the same time, the ever increasing demand for energy prompts governments to look at sustainable energy generating technologies, among them energy from renewable resources such as wind and solar energy.