Singapore –Twitter announced that the company has officially opened its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore and will be adding more than 100 jobs over the next few years to meet the growing demand from its users, partners and advertisers across the Asia-Pacific region. Since opening in a serviced office in the fall of 2013, the Singapore-based team has grown to 80 staff members in less than two years and moved to a new office space to accommodate the company’s plans to more than double its workforce.

The new regional headquarters will be home to a wide range of business functions, including sales, partnerships, marketing, HR, finance, user services, legal, policy, and trust & safety. In addition to the #RealTimeLab in its new office, there are plans to hire technical staff, including data analytics professionals, product specialists, engineering and technology support, to create a regional hub for live, digital innovations in Singapore.

Using the #Home4Good hashtag, Twitter’s Asia-Pacific headquarters opening ceremony was held on 11 June and graced by Minister Dr. Yaacob Ibrahim, Singapore’s Minister for Communications & Information, who was hosted by Shailesh Rao, Twitter’s Vice President of Asia Pacific, Americas and Emerging Markets, and Aliza Knox, Twitter’s Managing Director of Online Sales, Asia-Pacific. At the event, Minister Yaacob launched the new headquarters with a Tweet before going on a tour of the office and meeting with Twitter staff.

@yaacobibrahim: Happy to open @Twitter’s APAC HQ in #Singapore! Congrats @shaileshrao @alizaknox @parrysingh @TwitterSG! #Home4Good

“The Asia-Pacific region is already one of the largest and fastest growing regions for Twitter today, and there still is enormous potential to show people, partners and advertisers the value of our platform, from Japan to India to Australia,” said Rao. “We’re capitalising on this growth in 2015 by making strategic investments across the region – from opening new offices and aggressively hiring staff, to acquiring companies and building local product experiences.”

“This is a milestone in Twitter’s history and we’re hiring the best and brightest to take our company to the next phase of regional growth as well as create a hub of innovation in Singapore,” said Knox. “As one of the top technology platforms in the world today, we were looking for a regional base in a pro-business environment with other regional leaders and customers, easy connectivity to the rest of the region, and a world-class talent pool across multiple functions – Singapore was the clear choice for us.”

“Twitter’s growth and establishment of the Asia Pacific headquarters is testament to Singapore’s information technology and telecommunications infrastructure, research capabilities and talent pool, which companies can leverage to capture the market opportunities in a fast growing Asia,” said Ms. Thien Kwee Eng, Assistant Managing Director, Singapore Economic Development Board. “We are also very proud that Twitter has chosen Singapore for its Asia-Pacific #RealTimeLab along with plans for a live digital innovation hub. This is aligned with Singapore’s push to build data analytics capabilities and will provide exciting new job opportunities for Singaporeans.”

The look and feel of Twitter’s new Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore

There are two unique design elements in Twitter’s new Asia Pacific headquarters:

• An art installation wall designed by the students of LASALLE College of the Arts to showcase Twitter’s core values and the first Tweets from each of the official country accounts. Symbolising connectivity and the company’s geographical reach, a single blue piece of twine links the capital cities across the region to form the outline of Twitter’s logo with Singapore at the heart of the Twitter bird.

• The #RealTimeLab is a social media centre of excellence to create, execute and share live Twitter campaigns, analytics and data visualisations with customers, partners and the community. In addition, key cultural moments from around the region are highlighted, including national elections, sporting events, entertainment shows and disaster responses.

The new office was designed with both Twitter and Singapore in mind:

• There are elements of Singapore’s heritage incorporated throughout the interior design, including Peranakan wall and floor tiles, nostalgic old-style doors and windows, 1970s wall grilles, bricks and furniture.

• As a reflection of Twitter’s role as a platform for live, public conversations, the office has a large Commons area for events of up to 100 people, while many work areas throughout the office were built for group discussions, including The Library.

• The #LoveWhereYouWork neon hashtag, Twitter vending machine, Tweet wall and birdhouses around the office emphasise the company’s iconic brand. All the rooms are also named after birds from across the region, including Emu the boardroom.

Twitter’s #Home4Good celebrations in Singapore

In addition to the office opening ceremony, the company organised other #Home4Good activities to celebrate the special occasion with the local community, including:

• #TweetHunt office tours to showcase the company culture and work environment that make Twitter one of the best companies to work for

• #TweetTalks for power users, advertisers and agencies to share their experiences on the platform

• #Twitter4Women event with top women leaders in Singapore to discuss the use of Twitter for professional and personal development

• An evening function for Twitter friends including an #Auction4Good for @TwitterSG graffiti artwork and #Bites4Good to get Ben & Jerry’s ice cream cones, with donations from both activities going to charity

• As a sign of appreciation to our customers and partners, there will be live Twitter experiences with #TweetAMani for free manicures and #TweetAMassage for free backrubs during the evening function

• #Twitter4Good partnership with the Media Literacy Council, relevant government bodies and NGOs to hold an upcoming workshop to promote safe and responsible use of social media in Singapore.