S'pore reaches out to new horizons with FTA

P.Y. CHIN
NEW STRAITS TIMES (MALAYSIA)

SINGAPORE Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong discussed it briefly with former United States president Bill Clinton over a golf game in Brunei on Nov 16 in 2000 and, by Dec 4, the first round of talks were held on the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (USSFTA) in Washington.

Last week, the US and Singapore signed the agreement that many are calling a 'state-of-the-art' bilateral free trade pact that will become, as what one report termed, a 'template for the world trade fabric'.

Some Asian leaders have yet to grasp the significant and far-reaching implications of the agreement. And had it not been for turbulence and uncertainties being faced in Asia now, the agreement would have passed almost unnoticed.

In these uncertain times, the agreement certainly comes under the spotlight of global trade, more so when the Doha round of multilateral trade talks is still stuck in the quagmire.

But short of supporting Singapore, such comments would be reflecting a lack of understanding of what the free trade pact would mean in terms of a new paradigm in world trade, not to mention the 'dawn of a new gold standard' as American business leaders are calling the agreement.

More importantly, Asean must now reassess its trade position vis-a-vis the US in the light of the agreement to see how each member country could benefit from it, rather than to view it negatively.

And of course, for political mileage among its Asean fellow members, Singapore was reported to have said in March that free trade pacts were vital for Asean to maintain its 'relevance' under a highly competitive economic environment created by China and India in Asia.

THREE MAJOR SECTORS BENEFIT

MOST, if not all, the other Asean countries (namely Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines) had argued for all members to operate as a group, negotiating on a multilateral basis, rather than to allow individual members to negotiate trade pacts separately.

But The Straits Times in an editorial last week said: 'Ultimately, multilateral trade regimes are indeed best. Like a rising tide, they lift all boats. Bilateral FTAs are second-best. But with the multilateral Doha round stuck in a rut, second best is not only a good substitute, it may kick-start first best.'

There were fears that with Singapore aggressively pursuing free trade pacts with a number of countries, the 'relevance' of Asean as a trade bloc would end up as a page of history. (Singapore has also signed free trade pacts with Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the European Free Trade Association).

But as a Singapore newspaper claimed last week: 'Most of the South-east Asian countries have come round to Singapore's position.' Malaysia, for instance, is now saying that it wants to have bilateral free trade pacts with Japan and the US.

The USSFTA is a reality and it's best Asean members study the agreement closely to see how they can benefit from it. As a Singapore minister said last week, undoubtedly echoing justifications for Singapore's actions, that a free trade pact 'as was the case with Afta, does perform a very valuable integrative function for Asean'.

He added: 'Even though some may think that an Asean Economic Community may be a pipe dream given the huge differences in Asean, it is still a pipe dream worth striving for.'

But for now, Singapore is riding high. For the ultimate benefits to Singapore (and the US as well) could go beyond, in the words of a Singapore minister, economics, as the USSFTA 'is more than a free trade pact'.

Indeed, in a nutshell, studying the terms of the USSFTA gives the impression, as a close friend of the writer said the other day, that Singapore has 'economically' become the 52nd state of the US. (Japan has always been considered the 51st state).

As UCLA professor Tom Plate wrote: 'The deal... will make bilateral trade between tiny Singapore and gigantic America almost as economically efficient as the movement of goods and services between, say, Hawaii and California.'

The meaning would be clearer if the USSFTA is viewed from the angle that at one stroke of the pen, both President George W. Bush and Mr Goh cut tariffs and other trade barriers on US$33 billion (S$57.5 billion) in annual trade between the two countries.

For a start, 92 per cent of the tariffs that the US imposed on Singapore exports would be abolished with the rest done away with within eight years.

All in all, Singapore exporters to the US alone would stand to save US$110 million a year from the lifting of US import duties. And that is just the start. Even more significant, the USSFTA gives added importance to three major sectors, which will give Singapore the advantage over other Asian countries.

The first is the banking sector, where the agreement puts US banks on equal footing with Singaporean banks in the domestic banking market. That means the quota on banking licences that Singapore imposes on US banks (being foreign banks) will be lifted. So will be the limit on the number of service locations within two years.

This will put Singapore more than two or three steps ahead of Hongkong as the top international financial centre in Asia, a gap that Hongkong may find difficult to narrow in the years to come.

The second is the legal services sector. The agreement opens Singapore doors to American law firms and already the Singapore Government is recognising some of the more prominent law degrees from the US for admission into its Bar. This move will internationalise Singapore's legal services sector.

The third is the intellectual property rights, where Singapore will offer complete protection for copyright.

This will encourage the use of the island republic as a hub for intellectual property developments and to protect such rights with registrations.

But what is unique about the USSFTA is the far-sightedness of the negotiators in incorporating future products and services. E-commerce also figures in the USSFTA, which is in effect the first such international trade pact to contain clauses pertaining to the permanent duty-free status of electronically delivered products.

However, the USSFTA is not without criticism. Critics says that the agreement was a reward to Singapore for its strong and unwavering support for the US in its war against terrorism and attack on Iraq.

But Singapore dismisses this, saying talks over the deal started even before any plan to attack Iraq was conceived.

However, it cannot be denied that the quick conclusion and the attention the US gave to the conclusion of the deal could be tied to Singapore's support for the war on terrorism and attack on Iraq.

One thing which Mr Goh emphasised during the talk with Mr Clinton on the golf course was that the US had to remain 'engaged' economically in South-east Asia if the region was to counter the growing 'menacing' presence of China and India.

China is already 'sucking up' almost all the foreign investments meant for South-east Asia, as well as playing havoc with South-east Asian economies with its low-priced exports.

The USSFTA could not have come at a more opportune time for both Singapore and the US. In fact, the signing was very well timed, with Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) hitting China's economy where it hurts most.

For the US, the USSFTA could not have come at a better time. The US economy is spluttering along like a sick old man.

The opening of the Singapore market to US businesses, which are now preparing a comprehensive blueprint to take advantage of the pact, provides a safety valve to an economy, which Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan sees as facing a deflation.

In the US, consumer demand is falling. Corporate profits are down and unemployment is rising. What better way than to have Singapore open up its tiny market, and use that as the springboard into Asean and other Asian regions.

For Singapore, the USSFTA is certainly an 'economic breakthrough', given its extremely depressed state of the economy made worse by the Sars epidemic. With the USSFTA, more jobs will be created, which is what Singapore needs these days, as more American companies set up shop on the island.

Amid all the Sars gloom, there is a bright light for Singapore. The US lifted its warning to its citizens not to make non-essential travel to Singapore, which has been classified by the World Health Organisation as a Sars-infected country. Americans can now travel freely to Singapore - a boon to Singapore's tourism industry, which was the first to be hit by Sars.

In many ways, the USSFTA is seen as a double-edged sword that cuts both ways - it provides benefits and it can also have its disadvantages.

As a commentator said: 'The US can do a lot for friends and enemies alike, but the actions that it delivers could either be bad or good.

'For now, Singapore is riding high on the back of the American horse, so high that it may even fly like an American eagle.'

Tie-up good news for Indonesia too

ADIANTO P. SIMAMORA
THE JAKARTA POST (INDONESIA)

THE newly-signed free trade pact between the United States and Singapore will also benefit Indonesia as it will increase investment in the industrial islands of Batam and Bintan, chairman of the Batam Industrial Development Authority Ismeth Abdullah says.

He anticipates that more Singaporean manufacturing companies will move their operations to the islands, which offer lower production costs.

'This (the trade pact) is good news for Indonesia because we can benefit,' he told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

He said that following the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, companies from other countries such as South Korea, Japan and Taiwan had also expressed interest in investing in Batam and Bintan, which are only a short ferry ride from Singapore.

He added that with the growing manufacturing activities, exports from the two islands would also increase.

Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and US President George W. Bush last week signed a bilateral free trade agreement in Washington, kicking off sweeping trade liberalisation in goods and services.

Full implementation of the deal is expected next year, once the US Congress has approved it.

Under the deal, Singapore will be allowed to export high-technology products assembled on Bintan and Batam to the US duty free.

The agreement to include high-tech products from Bintan and Batam was reached last year on Bintan, during a meeting between US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, Singapore Trade and Industry Minister George Yeo and Indonesian Industry and Trade Minister Rini Soewandi.

At the meeting, Mr Zoellick said some 100 items of information technology products from Bintan may enter the US market via Singapore.

Mr Ismeth said that Singaporean companies would be keen to start manufacturing operations on Batam and Bintan as the cost of manufacturing goods on the two islands was only about half the cost of that in Singapore.

The flow of investment into Batam and Bintan has shown a rising trend. Last year, Batam and Bintan attracted over US$600 million (S$1.04 billion) worth of investments with 80 new foreign companies coming in.

As of March, there were 22 new foreign investment companies on Batam, injecting some US$60 million worth of investment.

The export value of the islands' output last year was over US$6.5 billion, or about 14 per cent of the country's total exports in a year.

According to Mr Ismeth, some 60 per cent of the 611 foreign investment companies operating on Batam are in the electronics sector while on Bintan, about half of the 38 companies there produce electronic goods.

Indonesia is now studying the possibility of entering a free trade agreement with the US, which is the country's largest export market, accounting for 16 per cent of total export sales.

Agreement on free trade agreements?

CHUA LEE HOONG
THE STRAITS TIMES (SINGAPORE)

HOW time changes things.

Two years ago, Malaysia looked askance at the free trade agreements (FTAs) that Singapore was negotiating, in particular those with Japan and the United States.

Today, there is still residual animosity in some quarters but, by and large, it is beginning to accept that bilateral FTAs are the new reality.

Since the US-Singapore FTA was signed at a high-profile meeting in Washington last week, the only comment that has come from the Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad, is this: 'Singapore is a foreign country, it is a free country... If it wants to have any agreement with anybody, it is their business, not ours.'

As for Malaysian Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz, her remarks were not directed towards the FTA itself, but to the speed with which it had been concluded - a fact which she attributed to the 'US attitude about punishing (critics) and rewarding (friends)'.

No more talk about Singapore's FTAs being Trojan horses for the surreptitious entry of non-Asean goods into the Asean region, in breach of the terms of the Asean FTA.

No more talk either about Singapore being un-Asean, as was the case, for instance, in a Berita Harian editorial in November 2000: 'Singapore may not have done anything wrong in legal terms, but morally, the Republic's action showed that it had undermined friendship in Asean.'

Why the change?

One hopes it's due, partly, to a new respect for Singapore's sovereignty, as implied in Dr Mahathir's words.

One hopes too that there's a new recognition that FTAs are ultimately beneficial not only to Singapore, but also to the region, and indeed to the rest of the world. They create jobs and improve standards of living.

Yes, multilateral talks via the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are best. But with more than 140 WTO members, reaching agreement is like Sisyphus pushing the rock up the mountaintop.

As it was in the United Nations Security Council over Iraq, so it is at the WTO - meaningful consensus takes forever to achieve.

Today's FTAs - whether bilateral or regional - are also crafted so carefully that possibilities for conflict are kept to a minimum. The Asean FTA, for instance, requires that 40 per cent of the content of a product must originate from an Asean country before it can be eligible for Afta tariff concessions, thus making 'backdoor entry' far harder, if not impossible.

And contrary to Datuk Seri Rafidah's March 2001 declaration that Malaysia is 'not interested in having bilateral FTAs with anybody', the latter has begun exploring bilateral FTAs, beginning with Japan.

But while Malaysia now recognises the economic usefulness of FTAs, it's doubtful that it sees them in the same geopolitical light as Singapore does. Yet.

Singapore's trade policy is dictated by its foreign policy and that, in turn, is dictated by its location and size.

Looking to the US is not a matter of ideology but a matter of pragmatic calculation. It's the oldest, simplest game of all: Who's going to be of most help to you?

The US is the biggest player in town today. China is big, but it is in competition with South-east Asia economically, both as a market and as a manufacturing location. It has limited incentive to assist South-east Asia, except to contain latent resentment, and to counter the US. And it has limited resources to help, even if it wanted to.

Where the US is concerned, there are plenty of reasons, economic and strategic, why it should be engaged in this part of the world. It only needs to be reminded of them.

It has both the will and the means. 'Without the US, Asean would not have prospered as quickly as we did,' Singapore's Prime Minister, Mr Goh Chok Tong, said in Washington.

An FTA with the US lends Singapore a weight beyond its size and a reach beyond its location. It's not so much a matter of punching above its weight as a matter of ensuring Singapore's relevance to the rest of the world. When you are a vital node in a web of interlocking FTAs, people are more likely to want to know you.

Malaysia, however, has a different geopolitical outlook from Singapore. With a majority Muslim population, and aspirations to head the non-aligned movement, its calculations in relation to the US are markedly different from Singapore's.

So even though Dr Mahathir might have been feted at the Oval Office and accommodated at Blair House a year ago, just as PM Goh was last week, his public stance in recent months has been largely anti-America.

Having said that, however, the fact that Malaysia is lately also seeking an FTA with the US fosters confidence that Singapore and Malaysia's strategic interests are not really that far apart.

Two years from now, Malaysia might well be signing its own FTA with the US. That would be the best indicator that times have indeed changed.

Shipping giant Cosco is the first foreign company to have a stake in port operations in Singapore

By Nicholas Fang

REVERSING a longstanding policy, port operator PSA Corp has agreed to allow a customer, China shipping line Cosco, to take a 49-per-cent stake in one of its terminals in Singapore. PSA signed a preliminary agreement yesterday with Cosco Pacific, which is the port investment arm of China's No. 1 shipping group and the seventh largest container shipping line in the world.

The joint venture, in which PSA will hold 51 per cent, will manage and operate two berths of the Pasir Panjang Terminal by 2008. The berths - one of which is still to be built - are expected to handle about a million containers or 20-foot equivalent units, also known as TEUs, annually. This would amount to about 6 per cent of PSA's Singapore volumes last year.

Last night's signing of a Heads of Agreement in Hainan, China, marked a departure from PSA's long-established position that it would not allow shipping lines to own a stake in its Singapore operations. While PSA has entered into joint ventures with its customers before, these deals have always involved its overseas terminals.

Yet large shipping lines with sufficient volumes are increasingly finding it worth their while to own and manage terminal operations. With ownership control, they are better able to tailor the port's operations to suit their schedules - saving them time and money. Smaller lines, on the other hand, do not need to take stakes in ports. They find it more economical to allow port operators, which have greater expertise and experience in the field, to manage the container handling for them.

In the past, PSA has made it clear that it wants to ensure a uniformly high level of service to all 200 shipping lines - large or small - that call at Singapore. And this is the reason for rejecting the notion of big shipping lines taking stakes in operations here.

However, the loss of two key customers to Malaysia's Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) over the past three years had prompted Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong to say last year that PSA must consider allowing lines to operate and manage their own dedicated terminals if that was what customers wanted.

Danish giant Maersk Sealand and Taiwan's Evergreen Marine were said to have been lured away by lower costs and, in the case of Maersk, PTP's willingness to sell stakes in its operations. Maersk, which prefers to own stakes in many ports it calls at, took a 30-per-cent stake in the Malaysian port and has a hand in its day-to-day management.

Commenting on the benefits of the deal last night, Cosco president Wei Jia Fu said that the new joint venture terminal would provide Cosco with 'exclusive and quality services'. Cosco was one of the first lines to express interest in investing in PSA's terminals following Mr Goh's comments, and the joint venture with PSA represents the shipping line's first overseas port investment. A PSA spokesman told The Sunday Times: 'PSA has had a long and fruitful relationship with Cosco and we are deeply honoured to be able to strengthen the win-win partnership with this signing.'

Industry insiders said that the decision by PSA to allow shipping lines to invest in its Singapore operations would ensure that shipping lines remained even more committed to the Singapore port. Mr John Ong, former PSA chief executive officer for Asia and the Middle East, said the move was a step forward for PSA. 'I am very happy for PSA. This deal will definitely cement their relationship with Cosco,' said Mr Ong, who now runs the port and shipping marketing consultancy firm Channel & Trends.

The joint venture will manage and operate an existing berth with a quay length of 360m and a designed annual container handling capacity of 500,000 TEUs. Cosco said that the joint venture will eventually expand to operate two berths, which will have a combined quay length of 720m. PSA currently has four terminals in Singapore - Pasir Panjang, Brani, Keppel and Tanjong Pagar - with a total of 37 berths.

Responding to queries, a Ministry of Transport spokesman said that PSA had recently applied for four additional berths at the Pasir Panjang Terminal and the application was under consideration. Land had already been prepared for the building of 20 new berths at Pasir Panjang as early as last year. - The Straits Times

Originally posted by huaiwei
Land had already been prepared for the building of 20 new berths at Pasir Panjang as early as last year. - The Straits Times
Is that the huge piece of reclaimed land along the coast you were telling me of? Or was that for a later phase?

Hmm?? Which land was I talking about? The one at Pasir Panjang? If so..that's the one. ;)

Busan port to take a leaf out of PSA's book

South Korea's top container port aims to boost transhipment volumes and allow shipping lines to take up equity stakes

By Nicholas Fang

IN AN increasingly competitive port scene, South Korea's top container port, Busan, has signalled a key change: to allow shipping lines to take equity stakes in its terminals, a move recently adopted by Singapore. And Busan, the world's third-busiest container port behind Hong Kong and Singapore, also shot down recent high-level criticism of transhipment by emphasising the vital importance of this business, which involves the handling of containers heading for other ports.

Busan, which shares common traits with Singapore, is so convinced of the value of transhipment that it wants to become a hub in North-east Asia, said a visiting top official from the port city, located at the south-eastern tip of the Korean peninsula.

Transhipment has long made up the vast bulk of Singapore's port business. And while both Singapore and Busan ports are focused on developing transhipment as a main business, they also share other traits. Both have come under pressure from nearby competitors - Singapore, from Malaysia's Port of Tanjung Pelepas and Busan, from up-and- coming China ports such as Shanghai and Ningbo. Busan recently lost two major clients.

One response by PSA Corp was to reverse a long-standing policy, and to allow lines to take stakes in its terminals. Last weekend, China's top shipping line, Cosco, said it had signed an initial agreement with PSA to take a 49-per-cent stake in two berths at the latter's Pasir Panjang Terminal.

Mr Steve Tang, director-general of the Busan investment promotion bureau, said in an interview yesterday: 'I think we will definitely see more of the phenomenon of shipping lines taking stakes in terminals in the future. 'With closer partnerships with the shipping lines, we will have a more economic solution and will not be expanding unnecessarily with other ports by expanding capacity for unspecified cargo.'

He said he had been in talks with Cosco about investment in Busan's terminals and that the shipping line had been 'seriously interested'. Hong Kong's Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) currently operates six berths at Busan, but does not own any equity stake in the operations.

Mr Tang said he disagreed with recent remarks by HPH group managing director John Meredith, who said transhipment did not contribute significantly to a national economy. 'I do not agree with Mr Meredith's comments. In Busan, transhipment is very important as it contributes a lot to our economy. Last year, the port handled over 9.4 million TEUs and slightly more than 35 per cent of this was from transhipment,' he said. TEUs refer to 20-foot equivalent units. We have been seeing a 20-per-cent increase in transhipment volumes each year for the past few years and we expect the proportion of transhipment cargo to grow to 40 per cent of total volumes this year, due in part to the increasing volume of trade to China.'

He said he disagreed with Mr Meredith's comments that transhipment hubs were similar to airport transit lounges, since transhipment business left money at ports in the form of fees and handling charges.

Mr Tang was in Singapore for a three-day visit, which ends today, to meet Singaporean and multinational companies to discuss investment opportunities in Busan. 'We are planning an Economic Free Zone which will be set up under an independent administrative management and we are approaching companies such as Raffles Medical to inform them of the opportunities that are available.'

He said he was close to signing a deal with a packaging company, which has its Asia-Pacific headquarters here, to set up a US$30- million (S$52.9-million) plant in Busan, but declined to elaborate. - The Straits Times

'We (Singapore and Thailand) will take first to the dance floor to tango. When other Asean members join us, we will have a livelier party.' - Singaporean PM Goh

Asean 'slow waltz' needs to speed up

By Lydia Lim
Source: The Straits Times (http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/topstories/story/0,4386,213397,00.html?)

WHEN it comes to freeing up trade among Asean countries, doing a slow waltz just won't do. Better to speed things up and do a more sprightly dance. This was the message from both Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and his Thai counterpart Thaksin Shinawatra.

Speaking on the eve of the ninth Asean Summit, they urged the Asean 10 to speed up economic integration. Addressing 700 leading investors and businessmen, they made plain that they wanted their countries' close economic partnership to act as a catalyst for other Asean countries.

As Mr Goh put it: 'We will take first to the dance floor to tango. When other Asean members join us, we will have a livelier party.' He pointed out where Asean had fallen short in integration, from red tape to uncertain customs clearance procedures and varying product standards that raised manufacturers' costs. Saying Asean had to 'get our act together' and 'move faster', he said the recent failure of the multilateral trade talks in Cancun made regional trade pacts more important.

Both PMs are champions of the Asean Economic Community, a vision of a common market for goods, services and capital by 2020. Both hope it can be achieved earlier.

Yesterday, Mr Goh identified three areas where Asean must improve if it is to free up the flow of goods and services. First, some countries must cut the red tape that discourages businessmen from taking advantage of the Asean Free Trade Area, under which tariffs for goods traded between the six senior members of Asean have been cut to between zero and 5 per cent. Businessmen find it too costly to apply for these preferential tariffs in some Asean countries and would rather pay more than put up with the delays, he noted.

Non-tariff barriers must also be lowered, he said. These include different product standards which have forced some manufacturers to run separate lines to make simple goods like soap. The limits on foreign investments in the services sector must also be dismantled, he said, as these have slowed the development of vital logistics, telecommunications and infrastructural links.

These barriers have hurt Asean's competitiveness and breaking them down would not be easy, but Mr Goh held out the promise of rich rewards for all. He quoted from a recent study by business consultancy McKinsey, which found that Asean could boost its total gross domestic product by at least 10 per cent a year, from US$720 billion (S$1.25 trillion) to US$770 billion, if its economies were integrated, and lower business operating costs by 20 per cent.

Mr Thaksin broached the sensitive issue of Asean countries competing against each other in areas such as electrical goods and automobiles, something that various studies have identified as a stumbling block to cooperation. Making clear this had to change, he urged Asean countries to 'pool our resources to produce quality, world-class products for the rest of the world rather than compete with one another'.

Several businessmen present welcomed the leaders' call for greater economic integration, but expressed concern that other Asean countries would not be as ready as Singapore and Thailand to make the necessary changes.

PM GOH ON SOME HURDLES

NOT JUST A BAR OF SOAP: Take a bar of soap. Some countries define its weight at the point it leaves the factory, others measure it at the point of sale. To meet these two different standards, companies end up having two separate lines of production. One line produces bars that weigh 100g, the other produces bars that weigh 104g.

ONE PILL, ENDLESS RED TAPE: To introduce a new pharmaceutical drug into the Asean market, companies have to queue up before 10 health authorities. In stark comparison, they would deal with a single authority if they were to do it in US or China.

SO, SO SLOW: The creeping pace of liberalisation is also a dampener. Manufacturers depend on a good logistics service to move the materials... But freight forwarding companies face constraints when investing in Asean countries because of limits imposed on foreign equity.

cheers
:cheers1:

Haha....wonder wat they gonna do next....merge Thai Aiways and SIA? :D

Originally posted by huaiwei

Haha....wonder wat they gonna do next....merge Thai Aiways and SIA? :D
Maybe more joint-venture.
:angel1:

Originally posted by huaiwei
Haha....wonder wat they gonna do next....merge Thai Aiways and SIA? :D

Haha imagine that.
Very unlikely though because of the whole national pride aspect involved with flag carrier airlines.
Plus, what would they do with two massive airports (Changi and the new Suvarnabhumi airport).

Well..too bad SIA isnt gonna help in setting up a budget airline in Thailand. Its more of a economic issue then a political issue, thankfully.

Therefore, it still opens up the possibility of regional mergers. Air France and KLM already did it. British Airways anf Iberia may be next. All of them did that in the face of competition from Budget Airlines. For all we know, the same wave might occur here! :D

Anyway, wats wrong with a single airline having two huge hubs? Most large airlines have that, and in extreme close proxominity even (imagine having a hub in NYC as well as Newark). ;)

I am just having this silly thought about having a single airline for ASEAN! :laugh:

The mergers of all national/flag carriers - that would create a HUGE airline! :D

Mergers are the trend: in Europe, KLM (Dutch airlines) just merged with Air France while SwissAir, after some attempts at resuscitation, is dead as far as I know. :(

I guess an occasional merger is OK, but beware of a single anything, from airline to car manufacturer to cookie! That's a monopoly. Competition is what keeps an economy health and strong, so you need at least two companies for each item or service offered. :)

Haha..actually I did think as far as having a United States of Southeast Asia anyway. :D USSEA. Cool eh? ;) Or maybe call it Sunda, because SEA is sitting on the Sunda continential shelf! :D

Imagine...Sunda Airlines........and we are all Sundarians. Hehehe :D

Originally posted by huaiwei

Haha..actually I did think as far as having a United States of Southeast Asia anyway. :D USSEA. Cool eh? ;) Or maybe call it Sunda, because SEA is sitting on the Sunda continential shelf! :D

Imagine...Sunda Airlines........and we are all Sundarians. Hehehe :D
:D
sounds cool, United States of Southeast Asia. But i guess each ASEAN members are quite different, so it would be hard for integration. We will sure have a lot of natural resources though:)

Originally posted by huaiwei
Haha..actually I did think as far as having a United States of Southeast Asia anyway. :D USSEA. Cool eh? ;) Or maybe call it Sunda, because SEA is sitting on the Sunda continential shelf! :D

Imagine...Sunda Airlines........and we are all Sundarians. Hehehe :D

When I read they were considering having a single currency in 50 years, I wondered what they would call it.
A Sunda would fit that category in my opinion.
Its new, its not a western word (if it is, what is a sunda?), its short and catchy and no members would have difficulty pronouncing it.

what do you think, good or too werid??

Originally posted by huaiwei

Haha..actually I did think as far as having a United States of Southeast Asia anyway. :D USSEA. Cool eh? ;) Or maybe call it Sunda, because SEA is sitting on the Sunda continential shelf! :D

Imagine...Sunda Airlines........and we are all Sundarians. Hehehe :D

LOL :laugh: .......Sundarians!!!

Although it might sounds weird.....but I think it is a logical name! ;)

Yeah I suppose it doesnt sound "posh" enough, but I will have to try to discover the originas of this name. BTW, the only evidence left of this name (at least on the earth's surface), is the Sunda Straits, the strip of water between Sumatra and Java Islands. ;)

Yay! we have done it again! :D

News article from http://app.stb.com.sg/asp/new/new03a.asp?id=306

Singapore Voted Best Business City in the World

Singapore, 19 September 2003 - Singapore has been voted the Best Business City in the World for the third year running by readers of the Business Traveller Asia-Pacific magazine.

Singapore came out tops in the Best Business City category in the annual poll of the magazine's subscribers, comprising frequent travellers based mostly in the Asia-Pacific region. This is the third time that Singapore has clinched this honour, having been voted the magazine's favourite business city in 2001 and 2002.

Singapore also swept the polls in the other major categories this year. Singapore Airlines was voted the World's Best Airline, while Singapore Changi Airport claimed the World's Best Airport title. The magazine's readers also picked the Shangri-La Singapore as the Best Business Hotel in the World, while The Fullerton Singapore was voted the Best New Business Hotel in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Mr Lim Neo Chian, Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive of the Singapore Tourism Board, received the award on behalf of Singapore at a gala presentation ceremony in Hong Kong today. Attended by more than 300 travel industry leaders from the Asia-Pacific region, the ceremony was graced by guest-of-honour, former Philippines President Fidel Ramos.

Mr Lim said: "In Singapore, we want to provide the business traveller with fun too. It is more than just our excellent infrastructure and top-notch business facilities which make Singapore the favoured business city.

With a wide array of diverse F&B establishments and a world-class arts and entertainment scene, there is no shortage of after-hours leisure activities for the business traveller to look forward to after a long day of wheeling and dealing.

At the same time, we are continually upgrading our range of business services, from high-speed Internet access to e-commerce capabilities, to ensure that the business traveller's sojourn in Singapore is a seamless and hassle-free one.

It is this attractive blend of business and leisure which makes doing business in Singapore a true pleasure."

Last year, 1.5 million visitors came to Singapore for business-related reasons, accounting for 20% of total visitor arrivals. This group also generated S$2 billion in tourism receipts last year.

Ms Peggy Teo, the publisher of Business Traveller Asia-Pacific, said: "In difficult times such as these, the cream of the travel industry really does rise to the top."

"The repeat success of this year's winners proves that excellence and creativity will always win out."

Business Traveller Asia-Pacific is in its 22nd year of publication, and is one of seven regional editions of the magazine around the world; the others are published in the UK, the USA, China, Germany, the Middle East and Hungary.

News article from here
http://straitstimes.asia1.com/singapore/story/0,4386,218153,00.html

$60m boost to woo business travellers

SIA, hotels and tourism board move to attract 1.8 million business visitors here in 2005 - worth $3b to S'pore economy

By Kelvin Wong

SINGAPORE is giving a $60 million booster shot to its campaign to woo business travellers here for meetings, exhibitions and conventions, with such offers as hotel discounts and subsidies for event organisers.

The bulk of it will be in the form of discounts and freebies worth about $45 million, given by industry players such as Singapore Airlines (SIA) and 39 hotels here to international companies and organisations holding their events here.

Meanwhile, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) will spend $15 million in the next three years on advertising, road shows and subsidies for event organisers.

But only events that meet criteria, such as number of visitors and exhibitors, will qualify. The incentives are also for events inked now and confirmed by the end of next year and held by end-2007.

The promotion, announced by STB yesterday, is the second major initiative this year following the $200 million tourism recovery package in June to help win back visitors after the Sars outbreak.

It aims to entice 1.8 million business travellers here in 2005, when they are expected to contribute $3 billion to Singapore's economy - exceeding the $2.2 billion spent by 1.5 million business visitors last year.

STB hopes the move will keep Singapore a step ahead of rivals such as Australia, Hong Kong and South Korea.

Said its chief executive officer Lim Neo Chian at a press conference: 'The sector remains resilient but we want to strengthen our position in the coming years, especially with our competitors also trying to get a share of the market.'

The conventions and exhibitions sector has rebounded strongly since the battering it took from Sars, with 132,000 business visitors coming here in September, almost four times that in April.

To keep them coming, STB will bear up to 30 per cent of costs incurred by event organisers on overseas marketing and event management fees.

It will also give financial grants to organisers here bidding for international events to be held in Singapore.

SIA, on its part, will offer special rates for organisations coming for meetings and conventions. Its spokesman declined to disclose the size of discounts but said it would vary according to the size and frequency of events.

Hotels and other places which host events will also give discounts on food and beverage for receptions.

This is on top of other incentives such as complimentary rooms and free upgrades for VIPs.

To benefit from the incentives, exhibitions must draw at least 1,000 foreign visitors and at least half of the exhibitors must be from abroad. Meetings and conventions must generate at least 400 room nights.

For example, a company which brings 200 representatives here for two nights will qualify.

The event management industry cheered the news.

Mr Bob Guy, managing director of Pacific World Singapore, which organises corporate meetings and conferences, said: 'It is a timely campaign that will help us to close deals to bring more business to Singapore.'

Just how many firsts are we going to get before we get really tired of it? :D

I dunt noe about the rest of u, but sometimes I am quite tired of what the Tourism Board do here. They seem to be a misguided bunch of people who do things as and when they feel like it. :rant:

Originally posted by huaiwei

I dunt noe about the rest of u, but sometimes I am quite tired of what the Tourism Board do here. They seem to be a misguided bunch of people who do things as and when they feel like it. :rant:

Your reasons?? :?

Well...they seem to be changing their themes much too often now, and having too many promotions at a go. Surely they should be timing their marketing strategy according to the market?

And I notice they really love to spluge on things whereby they arent even sure if tourists or visitors are interested in. They just setup some booth in Orchard Road didnt they? I wonder how useful that will be. I think just about the only thing they did right was a special conserved shophouse thingy in the middle of Chinatown. It was really a thingy they should do more, although it is still touristy in a sense.

Unfortunately, the same cant be said about most other initiatives. Remeber the Haw Par Villa Episode? And just how many of us think Sentosa is a place to visit? ;)

STB has made several blunders. Bugis was one of them.

But I'm not sure if they're behind the preservation and restoration of old landmarks (is that National Heritage Board)? But I think that effort has paid off as I as a Singaporean, do appeciate and find the preserved landmarks beautiful and inspiring.

Anyway the article in this thread is about discounts, offers and incentives to woo business travellers and I believe cheap fares and rates go a long way. Especially for the business-minded ;)

Hehehe..why is this like OLD news?

keep hearing it every year! :D

It is the Preservation of Monuments Board under MITA that manages the conserved landmarks of this country. True, it was the tourism board that first made noises back the, but other then the preservation of stuff, I almost fainted with regards to somethings they do. Do remember that even in Chinatown, I consider it a failure in a sense. They once had very very glamourous plans to overhaul the entire Chinatown district, and that cause huge protests from the general public. They had to stop the plans.

Oh, and they built this "Malay Village" in Geylang Serai? What the freak!! The joke now is that place is basically run by Chinese merchants selling anything under the sun!

Im sorry for "digressing", but this is always my reaction when I read anyting the STB does! :D Anyhow, just how much can we comment on it if we keep to topic? ;)

ok....

there was that plan to invite Chinese from China to stay at a HDB estate in Tiong Bahru for cheaper rates to sample life in the heartlands.

I wonder what you make of that?

I think its hit or miss with STB's plans. I wonder who is running the show there. Hopefully not some scholar nerd that never actually walked around Singapore!

You know, I have this feeling that it was because of SARS and the Iraq War that is why the STB is suddenly introducing so many tourism campaigns at once.

They must have intended to slowly introduce these during the SARS and Iraq war period but were unable to do so for obvious reasons... :)

Well, HK has an aggressive promotion campaign too. Just look around SSC forum pages and you'll find some adverts masquerading as threads ;)

"you singaporeans are SO ARROGANT!!!!"

:D

Originally posted by RafflesCity

Well, HK has an aggressive promotion campaign too. Just look around SSC forum pages and you'll find some adverts masquerading as threads ;)

No wonder the title of some threads sound so familiar!! ;)

Originally posted by RafflesCity

ok....

there was that plan to invite Chinese from China to stay at a HDB estate in Tiong Bahru for cheaper rates to sample life in the heartlands.

I wonder what you make of that?

I think its hit or miss with STB's plans. I wonder who is running the show there. Hopefully not some scholar nerd that never actually walked around Singapore! I thing its real dumb to ask Chiense nationals to stay there. Its not as thou they arent familiar with commie blocks. I feel the bigger market is from the western world, where they do tend to show a much bigger interest in the ways of life in other "exotic" countries. The Chinese just want to shop!

In general, the idea is excellent (even thou its not new), but they are targeting the wrong market. Target the backpackers, who tend to come from the west, prefers cheaper accomodation, and tend to go the unbeaten path. Target the kind of tourists who want to stay in something unique. Target the not so rich tourists who just want an affordable place to stay, and they can come from anywhere.

As for the thing about nerds, I am afraid you might be right. So many of the people in there are from NUS Geog dept. A whole bunch of useless twerps still living in the 1980s. The same thing with LTA. Haha! Now you guys realise why I despise them so much. I slowly begining to despise URA even. Keep thinking you need to be some kinda scholar or first class honours to hold those jobs. Even if I get my first class (in my dreams), I will be more interested to join the police! :D

Originally posted by TropicalSQ744

No wonder the title of some threads sound so familiar!! ;) Now....PLEASE!! No matter what those ppl in that pungent city do, I hope we do not do the same thing and sell ourselves so cheaply! :D

Originally posted by huaiwei


As for the thing about nerds, I am afraid you might be right. So many of the people in there are from NUS Geog dept. A whole bunch of useless twerps still living in the 1980s. The same thing with LTA. Haha! Now you guys realise why I despise them so much. I slowly begining to despise URA even. Keep thinking you need to be some kinda scholar or first class honours to hold those jobs. Even if I get my first class (in my dreams), I will be more interested to join the police! :D

Maybe its because they wanna impress their bosses and get a quick promotion that theyre churning out all these ideas.

I say that more public input is needed before implementing these landscape changes. But I believe that the public is gradually getting more say in such decisions..or so I hope:angel1:

That might be true. However, without the ruling that public consulation is required, I wonder if these people are really interested about getting public particpation. I know this, because I make it a point to visit almost all of their public exhibitions, and it seems like they think your average Singaporean dunt noe enough to make credible suggestions.

Am I being too critical? I dunt noe, but I certainly doubt their sincerity!

Originally posted by huaiwei

"you singaporeans are SO ARROGANT!!!!"

:D

We're just stating the facts, maybe we're just good. ;)

Wow...we seems to be really pushing the limits of sheer arrogance to astronomical levels eh?? :D

I'm not sure, but I felt that the man in charge of the model at the URA Gallery sounded quite sincere in getting opinions. He was willing to talk and overloaded me with lots of brochures and feedback forms:)

Then again, I dont know about the other public exhibitions.

Originally posted by RafflesCity

I'm not sure, but I felt that the man in charge of the model at the URA Gallery sounded quite sincere in getting opinions. He was willing to talk and overloaded me with lots of brochures and feedback forms:)

Then again, I dont know about the other public exhibitions. Probably because he think you are ang mo? :D Haha, of coz I noe I am generalising, but I would really like to see better transparency in the planning process. For too often, they seem to be just "going with the flow".

Guys, this repackaged thread will be for general business news for this city. No need to create so many small pieces of news threads from now to help keep out section uncluttered! :D

News about buildings and development can still be created anywhere else. Also, news concerning the bio-medical industry should be added to another thread that has been repackaged also for this purpose!

Thanks for cooperating! Hope nobody screams at this unilateral move. :D

p.s. Note also that news about the aviation or maritime industries (or transportation in general) will mostly likely have their own threads too, so try not to post them there! ;)

Ahh..I see queetz has been very helpful:D

This is a good idea and its more systematic too:cheers:

HSBC S'pore expands centre to cater to this mass affluent segment; these customers have at least US$50,000 each to invest

By Edna Koh

WHILE Singapore is known as a safe place for the world's multi-millionaires to park their money, it is also attracting funds from foreigners who are not in the mega league but still have at least US$50,000 each (S$86,800) to invest.

The latter group - who are known as offshore customers in the mass affluent segment - have poured US$40 billion into Singapore, and more funds are expected to flow this way.

That is why global bank HSBC has invested over $1 million in expanding its Singapore operations to take care of the interests of this lucrative segment.

The money went towards moving its international banking centre, which caters to offshore customers, to expanded and swankier premises at Claymore Plaza, from Collyer Quay.

It also intends to double the number of relationship managers at the centre from 15 currently to 30 by the end of next year. When currency and fixed income specialists and other staff are included, the centre's headcount of 45 will be boosted to 60 by then.

HSBC Singapore has 'tens of thousands' of offshore mass affluent clients, and estimates that it has 10 per cent of the US$40 billion here, placing it among the top three players.

Most customers are from the region, it said, without giving a more detailed breakdown. It is believed that Indonesians, Malaysians and Taiwanese are among those with money here.

'We are talking about a serious business here. As Singapore grows in importance and stature as a financial services centre, I see the market segment growing quite significantly,' HSBC head of personal financial services Nicholas Winsor told reporters after the opening of the new centre yesterday.

'Singapore has already demonstrated its ability to attract foreigners for property investments, education and medical care, and a natural extension of that is to develop the financial service requirements these people will have.'

In Asia, Singapore is often the centre of choice because it has a very efficient tax environment for investors, offers a wide range of products and services, and is seen as having stable and well-regulated financial markets.

HSBC's new centre offers wealth-management products such as foreign-currency deposits, bonds and insurance.

Other perks for its mass affluent clients include a limousine to pick them up from the airport when they arrive in Singapore.

They also enjoy special rates for hotel stays. For those just zipping into town for the day, there are even shower facilities at the banking centre for their use.

But the centre does not cater solely to foreigners. It can help Singaporeans wanting to study or buy property overseas to open banking accounts in foreign branches or fill application forms for mortgages elsewhere.

Yesterday, HSBC group general manager Paul Thurston said the bank was committed to developing its personal financial services business in markets where there was scope to do so, and Singapore was certainly one country where it will invest more in.

This expansion plan was articulated even as the bank said on Thursday that it would cut about a third of its equities staff worldwide as it rolls out a new strategy for investment banking.

HSBC has 1,450 equities staff and that number will shrink to less than 1,000 by February, co-head of investment banking Stuart Gulliver was quoted by Reuters as telling analysts at a presentation.

The bank is shedding people as it shifts equities away from acting for clients towards trading on its own balance sheet.

The investment banking business will also be overhauled to boost returns and HSBC aims to be among the top 10 banks for mergers and acquisitions in North America in three to five years.

Let's see...if HSBC grows too big...they will run out of space in their existing building. Then they might start thinking of building a 245m tower as their new headquaters. :D

Originally posted by huaiwei

Let's see...if HSBC grows too big...they will run out of space in their existing building. Then they might start thinking of building a 245m tower as their new headquaters. :D

HAHAHA! Good point..besides the HSBC seems rather short compared to other HSBC buildings worldwide;)

40 billion US deposited in sg..thats like a huge chunk of our economy isnt?!

Originally posted by RafflesCity

HAHAHA! Good point..besides the HSBC seems rather short compared to other HSBC buildings worldwide;)

40 billion US deposited in sg..thats like a huge chunk of our economy isnt?! Yeah hopefully they do a clone of the one in London...haha! :D That 40 billion can be put to better use by building more scrapers! ;)

India & Singapore working on common stockmarket.

SIDHARTHA & P VAIDYANATHAN IYER Non-resident Indians (NRIs) and Singapore nationals will soon be able to trade in Indian scrips directly. The Centre is negotiating with Singapore for setting up an Indian stock exchange branch in Singapore.

In return, Indian citizens can look forward to trading in shares of companies listed on Singapore Exchange Ltd.

The Singapore exchange could be allowed to set up its branch in the proposed International Financial Centre in one of the special economic zones in India.

The International Financial Centre will house banks and insurance companies, besides capital market entities.

Officials told Business Standard that as part of the Comprehensive Economic Co-operation Agreement with Singapore, India recently discussed several financial sector initiatives, primarily in banking and capital markets.

An Indian delegation led by Commerce Secretary Dipak Chatterjee was in Singapore last week for parleys with its Singapore counterpart.

Singapore has also sought a clause in the agreement to ensure that Development Credit Bank of Singapore can open 200 branches in India.

The Centre on its part has demanded that the six Indian banks that have offices in Singapore should be permitted to open an equal number of branches there. A plan to share ATMs between Indian and Singapore banks is also being negotiated.

An official said the National Stock Exchange or any other large bourse could open a branch in Singapore.

“Fungibility issues need to be sorted, and we are studying a couple of options like allowing limited equity transactions in scrips listed in the overseas branch of the Indian bourse, to start with,” he said.

The officials also said Indian companies planning to list abroad by issuing American Depository Receipts or Global Depository Receipts could now list through the proposed Singapore Exchange branch in India. “The proximity will result in substantial savings for companies,” the official said.

If the discussions fructify, it will expand the scope of Finance Minister Jaswant Singh's decision in January 2003 to allow individuals, mutual funds and Indian corporates to acquire foreign equity.

He had, however, stipulated that investment could be made only in companies with at least a 10 per cent stake in an Indian listed company. Recently, Sri Lankan companies have been allowed to raise capital in India.

http://in.biz.yahoo.com/031130/26/29zc8.html

Thanks for the article drwho:)
Sounds great for India!

Dec 4 2003

COSCO Container Lines, a unit of China's largest shipping firm, plans to double the number of containers it handles in Singapore after its sister company took a stake in a terminal in the Republic.

Cosco Container, the world's eighth-largest container shipping company, will move more than 400,000 20-foot containers annually through Singapore by 2006, compared with about 200,000 boxes now, said managing director Xu Lirong.

'We will have bigger ships calling here, and we are also planning a new service to Europe through Singapore.'

Cosco Container's plans will help Singapore's PSA Corp, which runs the world's second-busiest container port, retain market share and expand its business in South-east Asia, where it faces competition from Malaysia's Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP).

PTP has lured Maersk Sealand, a unit of Denmark's AP Moeller, and Taiwan's Evergreen Marine with lower rates. In response, PSA signed up Cosco Pacific as a venture partner at one of its container terminals.

'It's a good way to go for PSA,' said Mr Peter Williamson, an analyst at ING Financial Markets. 'This helps to cement relationships with customers and offset the competition from regional ports.'

PSA chairman Stephen Lee said that other shipping lines have also expressed interest in taking stakes in its terminals in Singapore, following Cosco Pacific's venture.

Cosco Pacific has taken a 49-per-cent stake in a Singapore terminal worth $162 million.

Mr Xu said Cosco Container plans to start a service linking Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Shanghai with Rotterdam, London and Hamburg via Singapore. -- Bloomberg News

Ah....raffi....maybe you should post that one on COSCO in the thread about it on the third page in this forum instead! :D

Originally posted by huaiwei

Ah....raffi....maybe you should post that one on COSCO in the thread about it on the third page in this forum instead! :D

Aha! But Tropical made me merge that thread with this. How efficient:cool:

Dec 8 2003

By Nicholas Fang

SINGAPORE port operator PSA Corp's local operations have received a boost amid stiff regional competition - a shipping line that is one of its biggest customers has signed up for long-term extension.

Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) said that the extended agreement with PSA will see it bring more services to PSA's terminals in Singapore.

MSC said it will increase the number of services out of Singapore to six. These will call at destinations including ports in Northern Europe, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. It declined to reveal how many services there were previously.

Although the length of MSC's extension was not disclosed, long-term agreements typically last anywhere from three to 10 years.

MSC aims to strengthen the role of PSA as its key transhipment hub in the region, PSA said.

The company currently moves 'hundreds of thousands' of containers through PSA's Singapore operations.

The shipping line - which signed the extension two weeks ago - ranks among PSA's biggest customers both regionally and in PSA's Europe operations.

Shipping companies carrying out transhipment, or the handling of cargo bound for another destination, consolidate this cargo at key hubs before redistributing it.

MSC Far East Trade Manager Caroline Becquart said at the signing of the extension: 'MSC has enjoyed a rewarding partnership with PSA for the past seven years.

'As we embark on our expansion plans in this region, we are assured that PSA will continue to innovate and improve to deliver results that exceed our expectations. We look forward to growing our business with PSA in Singapore.'

PSA Singapore terminals chief executive officer Grace Fu said that PSA would accord priority and preferential treatment to all MSC vessels, including customised services such as berth-on-arrival and guaranteed productivity and service levels.

'We look forward to growing this partnership with MSC not only in our terminals in Singapore, but also globally,' she said.

MSC is also a key customer of PSA in Europe and it recently signed a joint venture agreement with PSA's Belgian unit, Hesse-Noord Natie, to jointly operate the Delwaide Dock at the port of Antwerp. The Delwaide Dock will serve as MSC's hub for northern Europe.

Originally posted by RafflesCity

Aha! But Tropical made me merge that thread with this. How efficient:cool: Bish......so in future, it will be up to you to break this thread up again if it ever gets too fat. :D

10 December 2003
It is second only to the US in study of 102 nations looking at IT use by people, business and government

SINGAPORE has moved up a notch to emerge as the second most information technology-savvy country in the world, behind the United States.

Third last year, it was ranked eighth two years ago when the Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF) first compiled its Global Information Technology Report, which studies IT use among people, businesses and the government. This year, the WEF ranked 102 economies.

Japan was the next Asian economy on the list at 12th, while Taiwan ranked 17th. The Scandinavian countries ranked directly after Singapore, with Finland, Sweden and Denmark capturing third, fourth and fifth places. Other Asian economies which made it to the top 20 include Hong Kong and South Korea.

According to the WEF, Singapore's ranking reflects its success in getting private and public organisations to work together to get more computers into homes, and more people to use infocomm technology.

The report was released yesterday. The study, done in partnership with French business school Insead and the World Bank's Information for Development Programme, focused on the roles of major shareholders - individuals, businesses and governments - and examined the networked readiness of the 102 economies, according to three criteria:

- The environment for IT; namely, market conditions, the political and regulatory framework and infrastructure;

- The readiness of three stakeholders - individuals, the business community and government - to harness technology;

- Infocomm technology usage in general.

Singapore ranked well in terms of infrastructure and market conditions. The study gave it a thumbs-up for the availability of funds for research and development. But it ranked only 93rd for freedom of the press.

The US topped the ranking this year, displacing Finland. The WEF said this was due to its strength in using IT - in business and government. 'The country also remains the most innovative in the world', allowing it 'to maintain leadership in the rankings over the last three years', the report said

PSA eyes stake in Shanghai port

PSA CORP, which runs the world's second-busiest container port after Hong Kong, is keen on a stake in Shanghai's multibillion-dollar Yangshan Port.

'We have expressed interest and we are discussing it,' PSA chairman Stephen Lee said yesterday, following the launch of PSA's Singapore joint venture with China-backed container leasing firm Cosco Pacific.

Asked if PSA would partner Cosco in the Shanghai venture, Mr Lee said PSA was flexible and would consider different options. 'We are quite open to opportunities. If there is any combination of players that might give us some advantage, we would consider it.'

In October, China Ocean Shipping (Group), the parent of Cosco Pacific, said it expected to take a 20-per-cent stake in the first phase of Yangshan Port's development. Sources expect Shanghai early next year to invite foreign investors to participate in the port development.

Cosco Pacific's joint venture with PSA involves managing and running two berths of a PSA terminal in Singapore. Cosco Pacific has a 49-per-cent stake in Cosco-PSA Terminal, and PSA holds 51 per cent.

By 2008, when the second phase is completed, the two berths will have an annual capacity in excess of one million 20-foot-equivalent units.

Mr Sun Jiakang, managing director of Cosco Pacific, said both parties had invested $162 million in the joint venture. Mr Lee said other shipping lines were also interested in similar ventures with PSA but talks were at an early stage.

PSA's first tie-up with a shipping group to operate terminal berths here was widely seen as a move to counter competition from Malaysia's Port Klang and Port of Tanjung Pelepas, where tariffs are cheaper by as much as 30 per cent. -- Reuters

Excellent!
Do they have the complete list?

:) :D ;)

Press release from the WEF:

Global Information Technology Report Shows IT Becoming a “Powerful Tool in the Fight Against Poverty” in Developing Countries
Index shows United States tops IT rankings – three Scandinavian countries in the top five

9 December 2003 - Geneva, Switzerland

With total coverage of 102 economies worldwide and produced for the third consecutive year, The Global Information Technology Report has become the world’s leading assessment of the impact of information technology on the development of economies. The Report is produced by the World Economic Forum in cooperation with INSEAD and the World Bank’s infoDev. A key part of the Report, the Networked Readiness Index (NRI), measures how prepared each economy is to participate in and benefit from information and communication technology (ICT) developments.

“The use and application of ICT remain one of the most powerful engines for economic growth. ICT also continues to be the best hope for developing countries to accelerate the development process. More than ever, we must all intensify our efforts to enable individuals, businesses and governments to benefit more fully from the use and application of ICT,” said Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

Under the theme “Towards a More Equitable Society,” The Global Information Technology Report is released at a time when ICT is widely recognized as a key driver of the process of economic and social growth of both industrialized and emerging economies. More importantly, ICT continues to provide considerable prospects in the development process of less-developed countries. Therefore, in keeping with the theme, special efforts were made to increase the coverage this year to include 20 more developing countries, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa.

“It used to be a common view that information technology and poverty reduction were at the two opposite ends of the spectrum of development policies. This year’s Global Information Technology Report shows that not only have some of the less developed economies started to take advantage of the ICT revolution, but also that networked readiness can be a very powerful tool to fight poverty,” said Bruno Lanvin, Programme Manager of infoDev at the World Bank.

The Networked Readiness Index examines the readiness of economies according to three dimensions: the general macroeconomic and regulatory environment for ICT, the readiness of the three key stakeholders - individuals, businesses and governments - to use and benefit from ICT, and their current usage of ICT.

Soumitra Dutta, Professor of Business and Technology at INSEAD, explained: “The Index is designed to assess the success of economies in terms of ICT development and usage and thereby provide a unique and valuable benchmarking tool for policy-makers, business leaders and other stakeholders in society to determine a nation’s strengths and weaknesses with respect to ICT and to evaluate its progress on a continual basis.”

The full listing:

Global Information Technology Report
Covering a total of 102 economies, the Networked Readiness Index of the new Global Information Technology Report 2003-2004 measures how prepared economies are to participate in, and benefit from, information and communication technology (ICT) developments.

Since it was first launched in 2001, the Report has become a valuable and unique benchmarking tool to determine national ICT strengths and weaknesses and evaluate progress. The Report also highlights the continuing importance of ICT application and development for economic growth.

The Networked Readiness Index Rankings 2003

Rank, Country Score
001 United States 5.50
002 Singapore 5.40
003 Finland 5.23
004 Sweden 5.20
005 Denmark 5.19
006 Canada 5.07
007 Switzerland 5.06
008 Norway 5.03
009 Australia 4.88
010 Iceland 4.88
011 Germany 4.85
012 Japan 4.80
013 Netherlands 4.79
014 Luxembourg 4.76
015 United Kingdom 4.68
016 Israel 4.64
017 Taiwan 4.62
018 Hong Kong SAR 4.61
019 France 4.60
020 Korea 4.60
021 Austria 4.56
022 Ireland 4.55
023 New Zealand 4.48
024 Belgium 4.43
025 Estonia 4.25
026 Malaysia 4.19
027 Malta 4.15
028 Italy 4.07
029 Spain 4.01
030 Slovenia 3.99
031 Portugal 3.94
032 Chile 3.94
033 Czech Republic 3.80
034 Greece 3.76
035 Latvia 3.74
036 Hungary 3.74
037 South Africa 3.72
038 Thailand 3.72
039 Brazil 3.67
040 Tunisia 3.67
041 Slovak Republic 3.66
042 Lithuania 3.63
043 Mauritius 3.62
044 Mexico 3.57
045 India 3.54
046 Jordan 3.53
047 Poland 3.51
048 Croatia 3.48
049 Costa Rica 3.46
050 Argentina 3.45
051 China 3.38
052 Trinidad and Tobago 3.37
053 Jamaica 3.36
054 Uruguay 3.35
055 Botswana 3.34
056 Turkey 3.32
057 Dominican Republic 3.32
058 Panama 3.31
059 Namibia 3.28
060 Colombia 3.28
061 Romania 3.26
062 El Salvador 3.22
063 Russian Federation 3.19
064 Morocco 3.19
065 Egypt 3.19
066 Sri Lanka 3.15
067 Bulgaria 3.15
068 Vietnam 3.13
069 Philippines 3.10
070 Peru 3.09
071 Tanzania 3.09
072 Venezuela 3.09
073 Indonesia 3.06
074 Ghana 3.06
075 Macedonia, FYR 3.05
076 Pakistan 3.03
077 Serbia 2.98
078 Ukraine 2.96
079 Nigeria 2.92
080 Uganda 2.90
081 Senegal 2.90
082 Gambia 2.85
083 Cameroon 2.82
084 Kenya 2.81
085 Zambia 2.80
086 Guatemala 2.76
087 Algeria 2.75
088 Malawi 2.71
089 Ecuador 2.68
090 Bolivia 2.66
091 Paraguay 2.62
092 Madagascar 2.60
093 Bangladesh 2.57
094 Nicaragua 2.56
095 Zimbabwe 2.53
096 Mali 2.52
097 Mozambique 2.51
098 Honduras 2.41
099 Angola 2.32
100 Haiti 2.27
101 Ethiopia 2.13
102 Chad 2.09

The area is shaping up to be the next banking hot spot as HSBC becomes the fourth QFB to open a branch there

Dec 13 2003

By Lee Yu Ling

JURONG East could be shaping up to be the next banking battleground in Singapore as foreign banks rush to set up shop in the area.

London-based qualifying full bank (QFB) HSBC plans to open a new branch at Jurong East today, making it the fourth foreign bank to pitch a claim to the area in the wake of rivals Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank (Stanchart) and Maybank.

Bankers reckon that the area could be shaping up to be the next banking hot spot because of its high population density and a good mix of local and foreign customers - many of whom work in companies located in Jurong East.

The new 3,550-sq-ft branch will be a 24-hour 'Day and Night Banking Centre', which will allow even insomniacs to take care of their banking needs at all hours.

HSBC Singapore's head of wealth management, service and sales, Mr David Docking, said that Jurong East was a 'key area for HSBC, having built up a very strong customer base over the span of time that we've been here'.

HSBC is relocating its branch from Tah Ching Road, Jurong to Jurong East.

Other bankers reckon that Jurong East has immense business potential with a lucrative catchment of customers.

According to Maybank's head of retail financial services, Ms Pollie Sim, the area has a 'high population density and offers a good range of both consumer and corporate banking potentials'. Maybank operates a 2,200-sq-ft branch in Jurong East.

Stanchart hopes to find customers in 'those who work in the many companies located in Jurong', said the bank's general manager of branches as well as priority and direct banking, Ms Sherina Liang.

Jurong East is a bustling residential area with more than 23,000 homes.

It is also a centre of business activity with the International Business Park, Creative Technologies, The German Centre and JTC Corp, all located within the vicinity.

The varied demographic profile of Jurong East may also make the area attractive to banks.

While some residents may be older, there is also no lack of young consumers.

Maybank, for example, has a 'relatively young customer base' - most of them between 30 and 40 years old.

But overall, many residents of one of the older estates in Singapore may have finished paying off housing loans and may also have accumulated sizeable wealth, said bankers.

So how do the banks see the increased competition in Jurong East?

Maybank's Ms Sim said: 'We have always welcomed competition as it spurs us to constantly improve our products and services to meet our customers' needs better.'

HSBC's branch relocation comes hot on the heels of Maybank's branch re-opening in Holland Village on Thursday.

Foreign banks with QFB status are allowed to set up a maximum of 10 branches and five off-site automated teller machines (ATMs).

The granting of the QFB status since 1999 is part of an initiative by the banking regulator - the Monetary of Authority of Singapore (MAS) - to liberalise commercial banking in Singapore.

The six QFBs are HSBC, Citibank, Stanchart, Maybank, ABN-Amro Bank and BNP Paribas.

Since becoming QFBs, these foreign banks have been relocating existing branches and setting up new ones to better penetrate the local consumer banking market.

Many have set up in affluent areas such as Holland Village, Upper Bukit Timah and Siglap.

So far, Toa Payoh is the only other HDB town where most QFBs have set up branches. This is partly because the HDB Hub - where Singaporeans go to purchase Housing Board flats - is located there.

Hm....maybe those banks should build 30 story towers in those sub-urban districts...hehehe. :D

Some things that go up, must come down........;)

US giant to shut plant, lay off 200

Wyeth's Tuas plant hit by study on hormone pills

By Vladimir Guevarra

AMERICAN pharmaceutical giant Wyeth is closing down one of its two Singapore plants next year and will lay off 200 workers. The plant producing hormone replacement therapy (HRT) pills at its $524-million complex in Tuas has fallen victim to a study in July last year that said women who take them face an increased risk of diseases such as breast cancer, stroke, heart attack and dementia.

The HRT plant, which started operations in 2001, will be shut down in phases from next month, said a company statement yesterday. Complete shutdown is expected by June, it added. The plant was to have employed 600 people at full capacity, planned for some time between 2004 and 2006.

However, Wyeth's other plant here, which manufactures nutritional products and infant formula, will continue production. It currently employs more than 300 people. 'Our commitment to Singapore as a business hub is unchanged and we see Singapore as key for the success of our nutritional business moving forward,' said managing director here Jamal Akhtar.

The company said it had spent the past 12 months exploring alternatives, including the production of other products at the Tuas plant. The plant had been producing mainly Premarin, an estrogen-only drug that has been around for about 60 years. At full capacity, it would have produced one billion HRT pills a year.

The pills are given to menopausal and post-menopausal women who suffer from severe mood swings, hot flashes and night sweating. Last year, an estimated 20,000 Singapore women were on HRT.

Wyeth told its staff of the decision to shut down yesterday, and said it was working with the Economic Development Board and other government agencies to help its employees find new jobs.

17 Dec 2003

UP TO 2,000 more private apartments than this year's 5,000 or so could be sold next year because of the better economic forecasts, analysts predict.

Property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle told The Straits Times that demand next year is likely to rise to between 6,000 and 7,000 units, while rival consultancy CB Richard Ellis puts the figure at 6,000 to 6,500 units.

But both agree that the country's improving economic prospects would boost home-buying sentiment.

Last week, a government survey of private economists revealed that they believe the Singapore economy could grow by about 5.2 per cent next year, higher than the official forecast of 3 to 5 per cent.

Developers are so buoyed by the growth figures that some are launching more units on the market.

City Developments said it will start releasing units from its 1,100-unit project in Marina Boulevard in the New Downtown next year, while Keppel Land is understood to be readying to sell more than 500 homes including units at its Caribbean at Keppel Bay project.

A spokesman for Centrepoint Properties said it is expecting to sell more than 600 units next year, 50 per cent more than it has done so far this year.

About 4,000 units in all have been sold in the first three quarters of the year.

With the year-end festive season being a traditionally slow period for sales of homes, analysts estimate that full-year sales are likely to be just below 5,000 units.

Last year, 9,485 units were sold.

CB Richard Ellis executive director Soon Su Lin said the drop was due to the effects of the war in Iraq, Sars, changes in home-financing policies and unemployment.

Among the few projects which were released, those sited near MRT stations did the best.

For example, more than 80 per cent of Far East Organization's 646-unit Icon project, near Tanjong Pagar MRT station, were sold in a little over two months after it was launched in May.

Its hottest units were the one-bedroom ones, some of which went for around $390,000.

More than 70 per cent of the apartments at NTUC Choice Homes and Chip Eng Seng's 579-unit Grandeur 8 project near the Ang Mo Kio MRT station were snapped up in four days after they were released in early July.

Far East Organization is expected to sell the most number of units this year. It had sold 964 as of July.

Other big developers are reaping the rewards of having gone abroad.

In Shanghai, Keppel Land has found buyers for more than 1,000 of its units, while CapitaLand has sold around 1,500 from its various projects.

Originally posted by RafflesCity

City Developments said it will start releasing units from its 1,100-unit project in Marina Boulevard in the New Downtown next year, YES!!!! This is the 245-metre residential tower I have been talking about!!! :D

Originally posted by huaiwei

YES!!!! This is the 245-metre residential tower I have been talking about!!! :D

This is the first time I'm hearing about it!:rant:
When did you mention it?

Originally posted by RafflesCity

This is the first time I'm hearing about it!:rant:
When did you mention it? I think i did in one of those condo threads....cant remember where...hahaa! :D

245m residential tower?????!!!!!!!
Please explain more.:D

Originally posted by Cliff

245m residential tower?????!!!!!!!
Please explain more.:D Eh...basically the site has a height limit of 245m, just like the surrounding sites in the NDT. It is a white site, so in this case, the developer decided to have it residential instead of commercial as is the norm there. The rest of the details are in the article, and in another one raffi posted somewhere else. ;)

Lets hope they utilize the full height allowance or at the least, have something tall there.

Originally posted by RafflesCity

Lets hope they utilize the full height allowance or at the least, have something tall there. By the powers of the economy, they should build to the full height. This is because it is a white site, and they can actually convert the use of the building anytime they want! :D

Originally posted by huaiwei

By the powers of the economy, they should build to the full height. This is because it is a white site, and they can actually convert the use of the building anytime they want! :D

Dont quite get you. You mean they are still not sure if theyre gonna build residential?

They have gotten approval to build mainly residential. But in actual fact, they can actually change the usage anytime they want, even after construction, without having to pay developmental charges, and being restricted by land use guidelines for the site. ;)

Sales of private apartments may go up by 2,000 next year

UP TO 2,000 more private apartments than this year's 5,000 or so could be sold next year because of the better economic forecasts, analysts predict.

Property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle told The Straits Times that demand next year is likely to rise to between 6,000 and 7,000 units, while rival consultancy CB Richard Ellis puts the figure at 6,000 to 6,500 units. But both agree that the country's improving economic prospects would boost home-buying sentiment.

Last week, a government survey of private economists revealed that they believe the Singapore economy could grow by about 5.2 per cent next year, higher than the official forecast of 3 to 5 per cent.

Developers are so buoyed by the growth figures that some are launching more units on the market. City Developments said it will start releasing units from its 1,100-unit project in Marina Boulevard in the New Downtown next year, while Keppel Land is understood to be readying to sell more than 500 homes including units at its Caribbean at Keppel Bay project. A spokesman for Centrepoint Properties said it is expecting to sell more than 600 units next year, 50 per cent more than it has done so far this year.

About 4,000 units in all have been sold in the first three quarters of the year. With the year-end festive season being a traditionally slow period for sales of homes, analysts estimate that full-year sales are likely to be just below 5,000 units. Last year, 9,485 units were sold. CB Richard Ellis executive director Soon Su Lin said the drop was due to the effects of the war in Iraq, Sars, changes in home-financing policies and unemployment.

Among the few projects which were released, those sited near MRT stations did the best. For example, more than 80 per cent of Far East Organization's 646-unit Icon project, near Tanjong Pagar MRT station, were sold in a little over two months after it was launched in May. Its hottest units were the one-bedroom ones, some of which went for around $390,000.

More than 70 per cent of the apartments at NTUC Choice Homes and Chip Eng Seng's 579-unit Grandeur 8 project near the Ang Mo Kio MRT station were snapped up in four days after they were released in early July. Far East Organization is expected to sell the most number of units this year. It had sold 964 as of July.

Other big developers are reaping the rewards of having gone abroad. In Shanghai, Keppel Land has found buyers for more than 1,000 of its units, while CapitaLand has sold around 1,500 from its various projects.

Singapore woos Indian tech firms as back-up hub

Sumeet Chatterjee (IANS)
New Delhi, December 28


Singapore, with its good infrastructure, robust IT and telecom network and political stability, is wooing Indian tech firms to set up back-up or disaster recovery centres there.

The city-state is hard-selling itself as an ideal destination for Indian IT companies to set up their disaster recovery centres and use Singapore as a base for marketing their products in the Asia Pacific region.

"We strongly encourage Indian companies to come to Singapore and explore the possibility of setting up their back-up centres there," said Mohan Mirwani, country director (India) of Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) of Singapore.

IDA is a statutory board of the Singapore government and operates under the ministry of information and communications. The authority works closely with the private sector to create a vibrant environment for IT in Singapore.

"We offer the infrastructure, high quality technology connectivity, political stability, and quality manpower base at a very affordable cost.

These factors make Singapore an ideal destination for disaster recovery centres," Mirwani told IANS.

Amid mounting fears over terrorism in the post 9/11 scenario, firms across the world are eager to establish back-up sites where they can move quickly to continue operations if a disaster strikes.

Indian software makers realised the need for setting up disaster recovery centres, also known as business continuity centres, after India and Pakistan came to the brink of war in May 2002.

Singapore and Mauritius, the tiny Indian ocean island better known for its idyllic beaches, have emerged as the preferred destinations for Indian companies to set up business continuity centres.

While Satyam Computer Services and Polaris Software have set up their back-up centres in Singapore, Mauritius has managed to attract Infosys Technologies - India's largest listed software exporter.

Mauritius offers tax concessions to Indian companies as a result of a treaty signed between the two governments. It is India's biggest foreign investor.

"Many Indian companies have already made their presence in Singapore and we expect a slew of others to follow suit. Singapore's infrastructure and strong support for the IT sector far outweigh the benefits that Mauritius offers," said Mirwani.

"Singapore is the least bureaucratic destination in the world. Our visa processing system is very fast and one needs very few approvals to set up a shop there," he added.

"IT companies can set up their development centres within no time and start operating quickly. A company also gets international recognition by setting up its base there."

The IDA official said there were over 6,000 multinational companies in Singapore and most of these firms were customers of Indian software makers and technology services providers.

"The back-up centre can also be used as a hub for spearheading marketing initiatives all across the Asia Pacific region and in some European countries as well," said Mirwani.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_510982,0003.htm

S'pore is only 86th most costly place in list of 111 global locations; survey shows office costs fell 14%

By Tan Hui Yee

5/1/04

SINGAPORE is becoming a more competitive place to locate a business in the heart of town, going by a global survey of the cost of running an office.

It is now ranked 86th among 111 locations worldwide on the list, which starts with the most expensive place. This is a good 19 rungs down from where it stood in 2002.

According to property consultancy DTZ Debenham Tie Leung, which conducted the survey, it is now cheaper to have an office in Singapore than Beijing, Melbourne and New Delhi, unlike previously in 2002.

The study found that the space to house a worker in the central business district here last year cost US$3,930 (S$6,720) annually on average, while it cost US$3,960 in Beijing, US$5,100 in Melbourne, and US$4,260 in New Delhi.


The study takes into account rent and other expenses like maintenance costs and property tax.

Singapore was ranked 16th among the 33 Asia-Pacific locations surveyed. It stood at ninth position among 32 locations in 2002, which used a different method of computation.

The DTZ report said that the cost of running an office in Singapore last year dropped 14 per cent from 2002.

This was largely due to lower rents because of an oversupply of office space.

Islandwide, 14.3 per cent - or 7.8 million sq ft - of office space available to the private sector is currently unoccupied.

Experts say that businesses are taking the opportunity to relocate and consolidate their ventures in one location, Singapore.

They are being drawn not just by the lower rents but also by the incentives dangled by landlords, which include renovating or fitting out their premises on top of giving rent-free periods.

Global banks like Barclays, Citibank and Deutsche Bank have already made Singapore their global processing centres while others are expected to increase their presence here with the liberalisation of the banking industry, say analysts.

Added Mr Moray Armstrong, executive director of office services at consultancy CB Richard Ellis: 'It's not just banks that have recently committed or are seriously looking to relocate.'

Companies across industries like computer software, insurance, infocommunications, media and entertainment are also doing so, he said.

DTZ said office rents here are likely to stabilise or further ease slightly this year.

Its executive director Ong Choon Fah said that despite this, it would take some time before the excess space is absorbed.

'A lot of companies still have excess space because they are tied down by leases they signed earlier. Also, people will remain fairly cautious,' she said.

Wah! we are so freaking cheap? Maybe we should set up an SSC office here. :D

Experts say that businesses are taking the opportunity to relocate and consolidate their ventures in one location, Singapore.This is the kind of news I want to hear!! :cheers:

Originally posted by huaiwei

Wah! we are so freaking cheap? Maybe we should set up an SSC office here. :D

This is the kind of news I want to hear!! :cheers:

Of course! It means demand for office space = demand for skyscrappers:cool:

Originally posted by RafflesCity

Of course! It means demand for office space = demand for skyscrappers:cool: Yeap! I am hoping for a BoA and Citicorp skyscraper soon! :D

The Port of Singapore Authority became the PSA Corporation

The Productivity and Standards Board split and became the PSB Corporation and SPRING Singapore (still a govt. department).

The Singapore National Printers (ex Government Printing Office) became the SNP Corporation Limited.

The Public Works Department became the PWD Corporation ,later CPG Corporation.

The Singapore Postal Department became the Singapore Post Limited.

6 Jan 2004

By Frederick Lim, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : German conglomerate Siemens is investing $50 million to expand its operations here in the latest sign that more hi-tech investments are coming Singapore's way, and more high value-added jobs are being created as the business climate brightens.

The company is embarking on three initiatives in the high-tech areas of electronics assembly, mobile communications, and water technologies that will create some 200 highly skilled jobs.

Siemens' newly opened centre will consolidate most of its Singapore operations in one single location.

Since 1970, Siemens has invested some $750 million in fixed assets here and employs 2,000 workers.

But even as low-cost countries like China are drawing some companies away, Siemens will pump in another $50 million to expand in Singapore.

"It's not only low cost. It's skilled labour. It's flexibility in labour law. It's the support of the Singaporean government which is excellent, and what you need is a combination of a knowledge-based industry, so to say, and a good manufacturing base," said Siemens chief executive Heinrich von Pierer.

"Throughout the bad patch foreign investors continued to keep faith in Singapore. Those who are here continue to invest. New projects are coming in. Now with the turnaround they are evaluating their projects and are considering new investments again," Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said.

Siemens will make Singapore its regional base for developing and manufacturing its surface mount electronics assembly machines.

It is the first outside Germany and will begin operations in April.

Siemens is also locating its mobile phone headquarters for South East Asia here in the next few months.

And it will also be establishing its Asian centre for water technologies here as well.

"We see the shortage of water as one of the real big problems for the future, for this century. It may become an issue as important as oil and gas for example. So we want to develop this business further and we want to use Singapore as a hub," Mr von Pierer said.

The water technologies centre will operate full-scale from September. - CNA

6 Jan 2004

SINGAPORE : Singapore is emerging as an increasingly popular destination for Chinese companies with at least 50 firms tipped to make their debut on the city-state's stock exchange this year, industry analysts said on Tuesday.

Reaching out to a new market in Southeast Asia outside of predominantly Mandarin-speaking Northeast Asia is one of the main lures of the Singapore Exchange for Chinese companies, they said.

"The attraction is they raise their profile significantly in an entirely new Southeast Asian market apart from raising funds," Choo Chee Kong, chief executive officer of boutique listing specialist SBI E2-Capital, told AFP.

Chinese companies also favor the Singapore Exchange because of the stronger
appetite for small to medium-sized capitalised stocks compared with Hong Kong, where investors tend to focus more on big-name companies, analysts said.

"The Singapore market has significant advantage in terms of getting attention," Choo said.

"The Hong Kong market is focused on bigger cap stocks...so all the private companies have no space on the Hong Kong market.

"They are not followed by the investors but in Singapore we welcome them."

Choo said his company would probably bring in between seven and 10 Chinese
companies to the local exchange this year including a satellite education service provider.

Philip Chan, head of listings at SGX, told the Business Times on Tuesday it was possible the number of new Chinese firms making their debut on the exchange this year may reach 50.

"There is quite a lot of name recognition and momentum for Singapore."

"Our investment banks find it easier to persuade them to come to Singapore, compared to two, three years ago."

In 2002, no Chinese companies listed on the exchange but 15 came on board last year.

Esmond Choo, executive director at UOB Kay Hian brokerage, said the city-state was also favored by lesser known Chinese firms for the faster processing time it took to get the necessary approval from regulatory authorities.

"The common reason that we hear is that it takes longer in Hong Kong," he said, adding it takes an average six to nine months to complete the application process in Singapore. - AFP

The Siemens building qualifies as a skyscraper by s.com's definition. :D

Wah..I didnt know Siemens has a building in Singapore. How tall and where is it?

About 15 floors I think.....at the end of McPherson Road near the PIE. :D

More hedge funds set up here than in Hong Kong last year, drawn by lower costs and a conducive regulatory regime

Jan 12 2004

By Hugh Chow

MORE hedge funds were set up in Singapore last year than in Hong Kong as money managers picked the Republic over its rival for the lower cost of doing business here.

These special funds allow fund managers more investing options, which are sometimes seen as more risky than conventional funds.

In a spectacular 60-per-cent jump over 2002, a total of 13 new hedge funds were set up in Singapore last year.

In comparison, Hong Kong's larger hedge fund industry grew only 24 per cent, or 12 new funds, over the same period.

According to new statistics from Asian hedge fund consultancy Eurekahedge, 35 hedge funds are now run from Singapore, while 61 operate from Hong Kong.

Singapore and Hong Kong are close rivals in the Asia-Pacific region as both financial centres compete to become a regional centre for fund management activities.

The Government has actively courted hedge funds to be set up in Singapore because such funds are usually run by the best fund managers, traders and stockbrokers whose investment skills may enhance the development of the local industry.

Hedge funds differ from normal unit trusts by adopting non-traditional investment strategies.

Most conventional fund managers buy stocks when they are cheap and profit from selling them when prices go up.

But hedge fund managers can short-sell shares - that is, sell shares using borrowed stock in the hope that the price drops - buy exotic derivatives and even borrow money to make investments.

This investment freedom allows them to make money for their wealthy clients even as markets fall.

Industry watchers said that Singapore has become a more attractive destination for self-employed hedge fund managers who have no attachment to a specific location.

Mr Peter Douglas of asset management consultancy GFIA, who has been researching Asian hedge funds since 1998, said: 'Think about what a new hedge fund business looks like. You've typically got a very small operation of people who have almost always spent their own money (to set up the business).

'These are small businesses which are acutely sensitive to business costs, and bluntly, Singapore is one heck of a lot cheaper to set up a professional service business than in Hong Kong.'

Continuing uncertainty in Hong Kong over whether the authorities there will abolish a tax on profits made by offshore funds may also be driving some hedge fund managers to Singapore, say some market watchers.

Although many hedge funds are managed from Hong Kong and Singapore, most of these funds are legally based elsewhere in locations such as the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean.

Explaining their choice of Singapore, the managers of the US$20-million (S$34-million) Pagoda Macro Fund and the US$8.5-million Tantallon Fund mentioned the supply of lower-cost skilled labour and office space, an English-speaking workforce and a pro-hedge fund regulatory regime.

Both funds started trading during the fourth quarter of last year.

One hedge fund manager also highlighted the promise of government financial incentives in Singapore.

He said: 'There is a perception that if people come down here and build a business and do well, there may be money here which the government may give out to manage.'

Said another fund manager, Mr Steve Diggle, who helped to set up the US$150-million Artradis Barracuda Fund, which started trading here in May 2002: 'When we went down a list of requirements, we just felt that Singapore has a substantial advantage over anywhere else.'

Hehe...lets hope that overtime, the trend continues, and we will really pose a major challenge and start earning a name for ourselves in the financial arena! :D

HP to invest US$1b in S'pore over next 5 years

13 Jan 2004

(SINGAPORE) Singapore's goal of being Asia's prime high-end manufacturing hub got a major boost yesterday when US giant Hewlett-Packard Company announced that it will spend US$1 billion in the next five years to ramp up its high value-added manufacturing facilities here.

HP also opened its newest manufacturing line yesterday to produce top-level Superdome computer servers for the Asia-Pacific and Japan. The company said it will announce 'another major manufacturing investment' in Singapore later this year.

'Our new manufacturing investments will be focused on high-end products in both enterprise and imaging and printing categories,' said Paul Chan, HP's Singapore-based managing director for the Asia-Pacific. 'Already, more than a third of HP's 6,000 staff in Singapore are involved in value-added engineering or R&D,' he added.

HP's investment plan is the first major infotech announcement this year and comes after Singapore attracted more than S$1.5 billion in IT investments last year.

These include $156 million from Agilent Technologies (a spin-off from HP), $425 million from STMicroelectronics, $500 million from Seagate Technologies, $150 million from Matsushita Semiconductor, $160 million from Panasonic AVC Networks, $68 million from Cisco Systems and $60 million from United Test and Assembly Centre.

According to the Economic Development Board, HP's cumulative investment in Singapore exceeds US$2 billion so far.
cast a strong vote of confidence in Singapore by committing to bring in technologically advanced manufacturing operations,' EDB's chairman Teo Ming Kian said yesterday. 'It further strengthens our position as a competitive manufacturing centre.'

The Superdome is now produced at facilities in the US and Europe.

The Singapore facility will make the systems for sale across Asia. 'Our 20,000 sq ft line at Alexandra Road will manufacture all configurations of the Superdome,' Mr Chan said. 'Our manufacturing output turnover in Singapore has risen 30 per cent every year between 1998 and 2003.'

The fully configured, refrigerator-size system can weigh up to two tonnes and is used by large organisations. End-user prices start from US$300,000 and can go up as high as US$9 million.

'We have about two dozen installations in Singapore and more than 500 across the Asia-Pacific region,' said Michael Muller, vice-president with HP's regional enterprise systems group. 'The system supports 14,000 applications and is ideal for running data warehousing, telecom billing, technical computing and e-commerce.'

Current Superdome customers include Singapore Telecom, Singapore Airlines, Mobile One, Citibank, Optus, Caltex, China Telecom, Nokia, Nissan Motor, ABN Amro, Samsung and Sony.

'No two Superdomes leaving the manufacturing site are alike, as each machine is customised for each enterprise's needs,' said Chong Chiet Ping, HP's vice-president of enterprise manufacturing for the Asia-Pacific.

'China and South Korea are two of the strongest growth countries in the world for these systems.'

Singapore is HP's Asia-Pacific HQ and one of its biggest manufacturing sites outside the US.

The US$73.1 billion giant's worldwide printing and imaging hardware manufacturing hub is based here and manages laser, inkjet and mobile printers, scanners and other devices.

Singapore is also a key global site for making inkjet cartridges, as well as workstations, servers, storage and networking products.

The Asia-Pacific region outside Japan reported the highest growth rate - 16 per cent - for HP in its Q4 ended ended Oct 31, 2003.

For the first time, the 13 countries in Asia-Pacific helped HP cross US$8 billion in annual revenue.

'The outlook for 2004 seems to indicate an economic upturn and analysts are predicting an increase in IT spending. The manufacturing and telecom industries look promising in the region,' Mr Chan said.

Indian housing projects get a Singaporean flavour

Netscribes / Harsha Udupa
January 12, 2004

The boom in the Indian real estate market is attracting the attention of infrastructure companies everywhere. In the focus currently are a few Singapore-based companies that have expressed interest and bagged a few 'design and build' contracts in India.

Surbana International Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Singapore government's Housing and Development Board, which has developed housing projects for around 85 per cent of Singapore's population, is currently working on integrated township projects in Andhra Pradesh and Chennai that are worth close to $670 million

The first project is with the Andhra Pradesh government, for whom it is developing a township that will have close to 25,000 apartments in 400 acres of land near Hyderabad. It has also tied-up with a Malaysian firm for the development of two more projects in Hyderabad. These are said to be worth about $120 million.

Apart from designing the projects, the company will also be providing operation management and marketing support. Its fourth project is in Chennai, where it is working on a 120-acres project, which will result in the construction of about 5,000 apartments.

SembCorp Engineers and Constructors Pte Ltd, another of Singapore's leading infrastructure companies, is also currently working on eight projects in Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore. It is looking for township and infrastructure projects and is focusing its attention on West Bengal, where it is considering some active investment.

Both SembCorp and Surbana will be collectively working with the Kolkata-based infrastructure solution provider, Pragati Growth and Development Limited, for the redevelopment of Kolkata's heritage hub, Curzon Park. With an investment of about Rs 50 crore, the park will be transformed into a 'park-shopping-eating-hangout' destination over the next two years.

The companies are still actively seeking other projects around India. While SembCorp is expecting to double its Indian turnover in next three years, Surbana is looking for direct investment in new developments and is exploring options at Mumbai, Punjab and Kolkata. They are also engaged in active talks with various state governments to take up their projects.

http://www.hdfcrealty.com/general/news468.htm

I am sure they will be able to get quality mass housing:)

Gee....are they going to look like this? :D

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/500/85singapore_pano-med.jpg

huaiwei hey:)

Do you have any pics of Surbana International-housing design? :)

Originally posted by drwho

huaiwei hey:)

Do you have any pics of Surbana International-housing design? :) I have never heard of this Surbana thingy...whats that? ;)

Originally posted by huaiwei
I have never heard of this Surbana thingy...whats that? ;)

oh:)
i think i found it http://www.surbana.com/ ..its a subsidary of HDB Corp in Singapore. Thats one of the firms behind housing-projects in India. :)
but i didnt find any project pictures :/

20/1/04

By Hugh Chow

CONSUMER confidence in Singapore hit its highest levels since 2000 during the fourth quarter of last year as consumers from nine markets in Asia and Australasia expressed optimism for the first half of this year.

According to a half-yearly consumer confidence survey compiled by MasterCard International, Singapore's confidence reading nearly doubled from six months ago to 65.3 - a score which is marginally higher than the Republic's historical average of 64.1.

A score above 50 indicates consumer optimism over expectations for employment, the economy, regular income, the stock market and quality of life.

A score below 50 denotes a pessimistic outlook.

About 400 people from the middle and upper income groups in Singapore were polled between October and December last year for their outlook for the period from now until June.

'It's a return to optimism in Singapore after a full year of pessimism. In fact, it's the highest confidence reading since the end of 2000,' said Dr Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, MasterCard's regional economic adviser.

He reckoned that the renewed optimism was not misplaced as there was a 'very encouraging' economic outlook. He has forecast a GDP growth of 5.8 per cent this year for Singapore, with about 10,000 new jobs being created in the manufacturing and services sectors.

In addition, MasterCard anticipates that Singapore's travel industry will achieve a year-on-year growth of 21 per cent this year with about 5.12 million visitor arrivals.

The MasterIndex of Consumer Confidence polls consumers across 13 markets in Asia, Australia and New Zealand every six months.

Of the markets surveyed this time, only Indonesia, South Korea, the Philippines and Japan expressed pessimism for the first half of this year.

21 Jan 2004

Industry source cites response to Thai competition


(BANGKOK) Singapore and Thailand look set to become embroiled in a bitter race to be the region's foremost oil hub, with Singapore announcing new tax cuts amidst fears that Thailand could snatch its current stranglehold on the lucrative oil trade.

An oil industry source told Thai News Agency that Singapore was desperately drawing up measures in response to Thailand's plans to become a regional hub for the oil trade, in anticipation of the official opening of the Sri Racha Hub in the eastern Chonburi Province on Jan 29.

Noting that the oil trade formed one of Singapore's main sources of revenues, the source said rumours suggested that the Singapore government was preparing to slash corporate income tax from 10 per cent to 5 per cent, in order to compete with Thailand's announcement that it would cut corporate income tax to 10 per cent from its previous level of 35 per cent.

'If Singapore cuts taxes, Thailand may have to make adjustments in order to boost its competitiveness again. Traders are currently working out how best to reduce costs. This comes despite the fact that Thailand has appropriate strategies for becoming a hub for the oil trade, with links to southern China, Indochina and other countries,' the source said.

Meanwhile, Thailand's plans of becoming a regional energy giant seemed to suffer a setback Monday, with an announcement by oil giant Esso that Exxon Mobil currently had no plans to shift its oil trade facilities to Thailand.

Pipop Prisssamat, director of Esso (Thailand), said the company would first have to see whether the Thai government's measures to facilitate the oil trade were better than those of Singapore.

Nor, he said, did the parent company have any policy of expanding its refining operations in Thailand.

Nonetheless, he welcomed the Thai government's policies, describing Thailand as an appropriate location for an oil trade hub.

The Thai government has already announced that it will cut the red tape surrounding imports and exports of oil, and is likely to reduce prices for oil tankers and storage facilities to below the levels currently charged by Singapore. - Bernama

22 Jan 2004

CHEVRONTEXACO, Formosa Petrochemical and other crude oil refiners in Asia last year had their highest profit margin since at least 1996. This year may be even better as companies say their plants are producing at record levels.

The profit from refining crude oil in a typical Singapore refinery rose to US$8.58 a barrel in the week ended Jan 9, Merrill Lynch said in a report this week.

That is more than twice last year's average of US$4.23 a barrel, which was the highest in at least seven years.

Asian refiners shuttered units or cut output after the 1997 financial crisis led to recessions in most economies across the region. Now profit for refiners is rising as demand for petrol and diesel surges in countries such as China and Thailand.

Formosa said it is boosting output at its plant in Taiwan to the highest since it started up in 2000. At least three Thai oil refineries including Exxon's local unit said they have increased processing this year.

Starting in November, Singapore Refining Company (SRC) has utilised its unit fully for the first time since the first quarter last year, the company said.

Merrill's Singapore profit margin estimate is based on so-called complex refineries, or plants with units that increase the proportion of higher-priced oil products such as petrol and diesel derived from each barrel of crude oil.

Asian oil-product sales are rising as factories gear up to meet increased demand from China and the US.

Total exports to China from the rest of Asia rose 44 per cent in the first 11 months of last year, to US$219.7 billion (S$378 billion).

'Chinese gasoline demand is so huge at the moment, the economy is going through a huge boom,' Mr Daniel Feiler, a spokesman for Caltex Australia, a subsidiary of ChevronTexaco, said last week.

'Singapore refiner margins are very high,' he said. 'It just shows the demand China has at the moment, which is unanticipated.'

SRC, the smallest refiner on the island state, boosted its crude-oil processing by about 20 per cent to full capacity since November, chief executive Tony Anderson said in a telephone interview.

The plant, equally owned by BP, Singapore Petroleum Company and ChevronTexaco, is refining 285,000 barrels of oil a day.

SRC accounts for about a quarter of the nation's total processing capacity. Royal Dutch/Shell Group and Exxon Mobil operate the other two refineries on the island-state, Asia's biggest oil-trading centre.

Refiners in Singapore export 90 per cent of their fuels. -- Bloomberg News

Why an Indian twice moved HQ to S'pore

Citing the example, DPM Lee offers Singapore as a natural gateway for Indian companies doing business with East Asia

By Rebecca Lee

INDIAN businessman Ramesh Vangal's resume could read like that of an Economic Development Board officer. He has single-handedly moved the headquarters of the global companies he worked for to Singapore not once, but twice.

In 1994, as head of PepsiCo Food International's Asia Pacific operations, he moved its headquarters from Hong Kong to Singapore. The decision was unpopular but it ultimately benefited the company, he told about 150 other Indian businessmen at a conference held by Standard Chartered here yesterday.

Later, as chairman of Seagram Asia Pacific, a trading company that imports liquor, he again moved the firm's headquarters from Hong Kong to Singapore. Last year, the founder of Indian information technology firm Scandent Group 'walked the talk'. He made Singapore a strategic base for his company's global operations. It now has 150 employees in Singapore.

Such confidence and optimism in Singapore was exactly what Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong hoped to inspire among Indian businessmen here yesterday when he gave a keynote address at the conference.

'Singapore makes an excellent partner for Indian companies embarking on a strategy of regionalisation or globalisation,' he said at the conference aimed at getting investors to raise capital in Singapore.

Listing the advantages that Singapore offers - its position as a transport, logistics and financial centre in Asia - he urged Indian businesses to take full advantage of the Republic's networks in the growth markets of Southeast and East Asia, especially China.

The two countries' historical and cultural ties made it easy for Indians to adapt to Singapore. There are already over 1,000 Indian companies in Singapore, with 150 setting up a big presence in the last three years alone. Several large companies looking to go global are also using it as a marketing and operations centre for their regional businesses.

Mr Lee also pitched Singapore as an incubator for start-up companies, where India can marry its large talent pool with Singapore's legal framework of intellectual property protection. 'All these make Singapore a natural gateway connecting India to Asean and East Asia, as well as a launch pad for products and services of the future,' he said.

Earlier in his speech, he gave an overview of the economic developments of Asia and argued for a strengthening of linkages between Southeast Asia and India, with Singapore playing a role in deepening the ties. Giving an upbeat assessment of the economic liberalisation he sees taking place in India, he described it as a subcontinent on the move.

As he spoke of Singapore's strategy of forming linkages with the rest of the world, he also commented on the comprehensive bilateral free trade agreement that it is currently negotiating with India, a key reason for his visit here.

His trip, now into its seventh day, has taken him to Bangalore to meet IT industry leaders and New Delhi, where he met political leaders, including Indian Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee.

At the conference yesterday, the Indian businessmen were keen to know more about the domestic issues in Singapore. They raised questions ranging from its maritime laws and water needs, to its consumer protection bodies and locals' sentiments towards foreigners.

Other speakers at the conference included executives from Standard Chartered Bank and Singapore Exchange chief executive officer Hsieh Fu Hua.

Mr Abhay Kelkar, vice-president of Bombay Stock Exchange-listed IT services company Larsen & Tourbro Infotech, said his company was keen to watch developments in the region. Speaking for many interviewed, he said: 'Indian companies are now looking to invest abroad.'

Hmm....jus realised Surbana is the name of the corporatised Housing Development subsidiary here.

Some projects info can be found at: http://www.hdbcorp.com/project.html ;)

Seems to be a lot of joint venture and business cooperation with India lately.

Originally posted by RafflesCity

Seems to be a lot of joint venture and business cooperation with India lately. Maybe we decided to learn the China lesson, and try to snap up the catch before everyone else? :D

27 Jan 2004

SIA back in list in global survey after dropping out of it last year

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) has been voted the sixth most respected transport company in the world, in an annual survey conducted by Pricewaterhouse- Coopers (PwC) and Britain's Financial Times.

This reinstates it to a list it had dropped off last year. In the 2001 survey, it had been ranked fifth, while in 2000, it took top spot.

The global survey draws on the views of more than 1,000 chief executives in 20 countries worldwide, along with fund managers, media commentators and non-governmental organisations.

For a firm to be respected, it has to score highly in a slew of areas including: shareholder value and commitment to corporate governance as well as corporate social responsibility.

This year, Federal Express took the top spot in the transport companies sector, and was followed by Exel, Deutsche Post and UPS. The only airline to beat SIA in this category was Germany's national carrier, Lufthansa, in fifth place.

While SIA was the only Singapore company to make the annual global survey, it failed to make the more coveted Most Respected Companies list, in which it took 50th place in 2001.

This year, General Motors took top honours in that list for the sixth year running. It was followed by Microsoft in second place, while Toyota displaced IBM for the third spot.

US-based companies once again dominated the list, with German motor giant DaimlerChrysler and Japan's Toyota and Sony the only non-US companies to make the top 10.

For the second year running, Microsoft's Mr Bill Gates was voted the world's most respected business leader.

You have the full listing of the companies? will be interest to noe how many other airlines manage to get into the list! ;)

Originally posted by huaiwei

You have the full listing of the companies? will be interest to noe how many other airlines manage to get into the list! ;)

Ops..doont have. I got it from newspaper. You find first lar :runaway:

Originally posted by RafflesCity

Ops..doont have. I got it from newspaper. You find first lar :runaway: Walao....why so lazy one?? :D

Originally posted by huaiwei

Walao....why so lazy one?? :D

Tsk:rant:

S'pore gets a jump on race to make hi-tech display panels

Korean startup to set up US$40m-US$60m plant: sources

29 Jan 2004


(SINGAPORE) In a significant technology coup, Singapore will soon play host to a US$40 million to US$60 million plant that uses a cutting-edge technology to make display panels on a commercial scale, industry sources say.

The plant, to be set up by South Korean startup Ness Display Co Ltd, will produce organic light-emitting diode displays, or oleds.

Besides offering cost and technical advantages over conventional liquid crystal displays (LCDs) that are used in everything from handphones and instrument panels to computer screens, oleds are also expected to open up a whole new range of commercial applications.

The Singapore plant will be Ness' first mass production factory worldwide, and is expected to hit its peak production rate of 15 to 20 million display panels a year by 2006. Ness' existing Korean line is a pilot facility for pre-production trials.

Current plans see the Singapore plant creating between 200 and 300 highly skilled engineering jobs, with complete production ramp-up expected to be reached within 18 to 24 months from first start.

Oleds emit bright light on plastics and glass, making it possible to make display screens that are lightweight, flexible and inexpensive. Unlike conventional LCDs, oleds do not need colour filters or backlighting, and this could cut costs by up to half compared to the older technology.

Oleds also have high visual contrast and low power consumption - 80 per cent less than LCDs. These characteristics, combined with very fast video response, will open up new applications that require very low power or long battery life.

The deal with Ness has given Singapore a jump on the technology over some competitors. 'This is a big win since the Chinese were already in talks to bring the first Ness mass production site there,' says an industry source. 'The fact that Ness has chosen to site it here instead of Korea speaks a lot for the confidence in intellectual property protection here.'

BT understands that the Economic Development Board's investment arm is a co-investor in Ness, putting in about US$12.5 million. This is part of a third round of funding for Ness that totalled US$48 million.

Other investors in the third round include Japan's Softbank, Sweden's Investor AB and the US-based private equity firm Carlyle Group.

The Carlyle Group had earlier led with funding of US$6.75 million of Ness' US$15 million first round of financing in July 2001. It also put in US$5 million in the second round funding of US$10 million, completed in October 2002.

Investor AB is the holding vehicle of Sweden's Wallenberg family which owns, among other investments, most of the engineering giant ABB, as well as stakes in names like Atlas Copco, Ericsson and AstraZeneca.

An official announcement on the Ness plant in Singapore is expected to be made next week, according to industry sources.

US-based market analysts iSuppli says that the global market for oleds could reach US$3.1 billion by 2009, from about US$129 million last year, growing at a compound rate of 56 per cent from 2003 to 2009. In low-power applications like mobile phones, oleds are gradually replacing LCDs.

Competition in the global market for oleds is hotting up. Taiwan's Opto Tech said it will pump in NT$4.5 billion (S$228 million) to set up four new production lines this year. Japan's Kyocera plans commercial product releases next year.

In Singapore, mainboard-listed Eastgate Technology said last August it was looking for strategic investors based on agreements it had signed, to develop manufacturing capability in oled displays.

One of the agreements is a licensing deal with British company Cambridge Display Technology (CDT) which owns inventions, patents and patent applications in oleds.

Companies already making the product include Samsung and Japan's Pioneer, although only in small quantities at the moment. Most of Samsung's output goes into its own products such as handphones.

29 Jan 2004

DPM Lee urges improvement in business climate

IF Indonesia can create the right business environment, especially in Riau province, its cooperation with Singapore can rival China's Pearl River Delta in attracting investments, Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday.

At a news conference to wrap up his three-day visit to Jakarta, Mr Lee said Singapore's investments in Batam and Bintan are doing well, but more needs to be done in terms of improving the business climate to draw even more investments to the two islands.

Issues such as higher minimum wages, too many unions and unnecessary taxes and red tape have combined to keep businesses away from Indonesia in the past few years, and these needed to be resolved quickly, he said. If not, fewer businesses will come, and that will be a loss to the region.

'We have always prospered because South-east Asia has prospered, because our neighbours have prospered,' Mr Lee said.

'One of the ways we have tried to prosper with Indonesia is through the Batam and Bintan project. We have invested there in industrial parks, we have brought in MNCs (multinational corporations) and they have set up there.

'And as some of my colleagues in the Economic Review Committee have told me, if Singapore and Riau can get together properly, in fact we are very competitive compared with China, even the Pearl River Delta.'

On a wider front, Mr Lee said Indonesia needs to tackle a range of issues, including unfriendly labour regulations and decentralisation of power to the provinces and regencies, which have led to additional taxes and rampant corruption.

Such things have added significantly to the cost of doing business, which is why investments have not been strong, he said.

But he noted that Indonesians he spoke to during his visit are aware of the challenges and realise that if they want the economy to grow faster, mop up new workers and compete with Vietnam, China or India, they have to deal with these problems.

'Singapore businesses come in based on their business calculations,' he said. 'I don't think it is reasonable or feasible to have Singapore businesses come in to do national service. Whether it's a company that is a GLC or not, they have to make their commercial calculations, weigh the risks and decide whether it's worthwhile.'

But Mr Lee said that even in such an environment, there are opportunities for Singapore companies to invest and do business in Indonesia, as shown by Cycle and Carriage's investment in Astra International, Singapore Telecom's investment in Telkom and Temasek's stakes in Bank Danamon and Bank Internasional Indonesia.

'These are viable projects, but the more transparent the business environment is, the less these obstacles and hindrances are there,' he said.

'And, also, the more constructive the bilateral relations are, I think the more investments there will be. The potential is there, but I am sure some of them are being held back by these factors.'

On bilateral relations, Mr Lee said that despite some hiccups in the past few years, cooperation remains good, with many contacts and trade and investment flows being established.

But he said some complicated issues need to be resolved, such as demarcating territorial boundaries, Indonesia's request for an extradition treaty with Singapore and the publication of trade statistics.

Officials from both sides are meeting and making progress, though it will take some time because these issues can't easily be resolved, he said. But any differences should be put in context to enable broader cooperation, because the challenges facing Singapore and Indonesia are not within South-east Asia but outside the region with China, India and globalisation.

'Our relations have to be based on equality, sovereignty and mutual respect,' Mr Lee said. 'That is how we established our relations with the previous generation and we have to work on that basis with the new generation of leaders on both sides and with the new political situation on both sides.'

Asked for his impression of Indonesia today, compared with his last visit nine years ago, Mr Lee said it is a different country.

Indonesia now has greater political openness, a decentralised power base and an open and vibrant media, he said. As such, the country is finding a new balance.

'It's a big country so they have a certain confidence that whatever happens, Indonesia will be okay,' Mr Lee noted.

'It can go up, it can go down - but it will still be Indonesia. I believe it will still be substantially Indonesia with a different balance between the centre and the provinces - but still Indonesia.'

Singapore, he said, has a different perspective on itself.

'We are small, so we always ask what can happen and is the wave bigger than the boat or is the boat bigger than the wave. Indonesians never ask that question.'

30 Jan 2004

By Narendra Aggarwal

SOUTH Korea and Singapore have agreed to seal a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by the end of the year, after successfully concluding the first round of negotiations yesterday here.

During the three-day meeting, the two sides agreed there would be five rounds, including the just concluded one. The first two will be devoted mainly to agreeing on the language of the FTA, with the third session onwards turning to a list of liberalisation to be undertaken.

The second round of talks will take place in Seoul in late March.

An FTA with South Korea would follow such pacts with key trading partners such as the United States, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Both countries also agreed to form nine working groups to look at specific areas like market access for trade in goods and services, intellectual property rights, investment and competition policy.

Mr K. Kesavapany, director of the Institute of South-east Asian Studies, and Mr Ahn Ho Young, director-general of the Multilateral Trade Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, led the Singapore and South Korean teams respectively.

'We made good progress in the first round of negotiations,' Mr Ahn told a news conference after the talks ended.

Mr Kesavapany added: 'As the FTA provides for trade facilitation, it will benefit both countries through increased trade flows.'

When asked to provide an estimate of potential tariff savings for Singapore exporters from the FTA, he said the figure was not available. He said: 'Singapore believes in making the cake bigger by increased trade volumes through FTAs so you get a bigger slice on both sides.'

Bilateral trade between the two countries hit US$7.65 billion (S$13.1 billion) in 2002. South Korea was Singapore's ninth-largest trading partner, while Singapore was South Korea's tenth-largest trading partner.

In the same year, South Korean exports to Singapore increased by 3.5 per cent to US$4.22 billion, while Singaporean exports to South Korea rose 13.9 per cent to US$3.43 billion.

Latest figures from International Enterprise Singapore show that bilateral trade grew a further 12.8 per cent last year to S$19.19 billion.

The two teams also had 'good discussion on a wide range of cooperation initiatives in areas such as energy, trade and investment, human resource development, and science and technology', they said in a joint statement.

Mr Kesavapany said the possibility of making both countries hubs for each others' regional expansion was also being looked into.

While South Korean companies could set up shop here and expand into South-east Asia, Singapore firms could set up operations in South Korea to tap North-east Asia.

2nd Feb 2004

Engineering, environmental svcs set to grow 5-10% over next 10 yrs


(SINGAPORE) Singapore is aiming to be the 'Houston of the East' by becoming a hub for engineering and environmental services (EES), with this sector set to grow 5 to 10 per cent over the next 10 years, according to estimates from the Economic Development Board (EDB).

The EES sector grew at a compounded rate of 4.9 per cent between 1996 and 2001, and a value-added compound annualised growth rate (CAGR) of 4.8 per cent. The environmental technology sub-sector was the highest value-added growth area with a CAGR of 26 per cent over that same period.

Already, in terms of environmental technology, five of the top 10 global companies in this field have operations here. Another nine out of the top 10 global process control and instrumentation companies have a presence here, too. So have 24 out of the top 40 global engineering companies.

The number of establishments and employees for this cluster grew at a CAGR of 5.4 per cent and 6.5 per cent, respectively, over the 1996 to 2001 time period, and accounted for some 40,000 jobs. It contributed 1.4 per cent to Singapore's GDP in 2001, with the engineering sub-sector making the bulk of the contributions at 1.1 per cent.

EES can be sub-divided into three broad areas - engineering services, process controls and instrumentation and environmental technology.

Engineering services include engineering design, consultancy, procurement and project construction and management services, while process controls and instrumentation includes the provision of products, systems and solutions used in the automation and control operations of industrial facilities.

Environmental technology involves the technology, services and products for environmental-related facilities and solutions, including wastewater treatment, waste management and alternative energy.

'The EES cluster is highly exportable and scalable, and given the long-term robust growth of the regional market in new industrial facilities and growing environmental needs, there is immense upside for this cluster,' said Kenneth Tan, director of the Services Cluster at the EDB.

The goal, he says, is to make Singapore one of the top three centres in the world for such services, after Houston and London.

'Singapore is well positioned to tap the growth potential of this highly exportable and scalable industry,' he said. 'As there is already a sizeable domestic base-load of industrial, environmental and infrastructural projects in Singapore, it makes logical sense for international companies to use Singapore as its first stop in this region and thereafter expand its Singapore base to serve the region.'

The environmental technology field looks most promising, as many Asian countries are reaching a point in their industrial development where environmental needs will become an important issue, said Mr Tan.

Already, the environmental technology market in China alone for the next five years is estimated at US$85 billion, and Singapore is aiming for a piece of that lucrative pie.

Some of the larger EES companies with operations in Singapore include Kellog Brown & Root, Yokogawa and Siemens.

Mr Tan added that EDB saw value in this cluster because it requires a big share of skilled workers and a high level of technical know-how, which is in line with Singapore's goal of developing a knowledge-based economy.

'Another important feature of this cluster is the fact that it is a critical supporting industry to Singapore's general manufacturing sector, and it serves our environmental sustainability needs.'

To help promote the EES cluster in Singapore, the EDB launched a 'testbedding' programme under its Environmental Testbedding Initiative (ETI) late last year.

The programme encourages foreign companies to make full use of Singapore's infrastructure to testbed their new environmental technologies.

The EDB also hopes to attract engineering services companies that focus on niche areas, such as those that zero in on the micro-electronics or pharmaceuticals industries.

'This will help differentiate Singapore from the other competing locations in the region,' said Mr Tan.

2nd Feb 2004

Proposal to exempt offshore funds from profits tax is an attempt to challenge S'pore's increasingly popular position

http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2004-02-02/jwfunds31-221315.jpg

HONG Kong's proposal to exempt offshore funds from profits tax signals a fresh push by the former British colony to become Asia's fund management centre, but it may not be sufficient to challenge Singapore's growing popularity as a base for new business, analysts say.

Some 10 months after promising to do so, the Hong Kong government on Jan 14 published a consultation paper on proposed legislative amendments that would exempt offshore funds and non-fund entities from tax. Under current legislation, funds either authorised by the Securities and Futures Commission or widely held in recognised regulatory regimes are exempt from tax. But offshore funds that do not meet those two criteria are exposed to tax on Hong Kong-sourced income because they can be deemed as carrying on business in Hong Kong through the fund managers or independent advisers marketing them.

'Granting profits tax exemption to trading gains of offshore investors would help promote the development of the fund management industry in Hong Kong,' Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Fred Ma, said in presenting the paper.

Uncertainty over Hong Kong tax is one reason why an increasing number of hedge funds and boutique funds normally marketed to high net worth individuals are being managed from Singapore, which already exempts offshore funds from tax. According to consultancy Eurekahedge, 13 new hedge funds were established in Singapore in 2003, 60 per cent up over the previous year, while 12 started up in Hong Kong, up 24 per cent.

'Over the past two years, Singapore has taken many proactive steps to build itself up as a fund management centre. The Hong Kong government is lagging behind. It's time to catch up,' said Florence Chan, tax partner at Ernst & Young in Hong Kong.

She noted that Singapore also offers tax incentives to fund managers, something Hong Kong does not do. Fund managers can have their tax on fees and commissions reduced to 10 per cent if they meet certain criteria, including a five-year growth plan.

Peter Douglas of Singapore-based fund management consultancy GFIA sees the tax debate 'as a little bit of a red herring' given the other issues that affect a start-up fund management operation, which has similar concerns as other small businesses. 'Tax is one part of the equation but not the dominant part. Singapore is scoring quite well because it's a much cheaper place in terms of rent and qualified people, and the regulatory constraints are more easily dealt with,' he said.

While Hong Kong's hedge fund industry is larger, the growing number of fund managers that have established in Singapore since the Sars crisis ended has also generated a 'critical mass' in the republic that was absent before.

A key difference, however, is the regulatory approach, Mr Douglas said. 'Singapore is much more coordinated and centralised than Hong Kong. This works well when a positive policy response is required. They want to encourage boutique and hedge funds so everybody gets behind the programme, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore can make things happen.'

In Hong Kong, on the other hand, the SFC 'are very keen to help but haven't been afforded the tools they need,' he added.

Ms Chan of Ernst & Young said one reason it has taken so long for the government to draft the tax amendments is the concern over Hong Kong funds trying to avoid tax by setting themselves up offshore. The consultation paper proposes measures to prevent such 'round-tripping', but the onus will be on the fund manager or independent adviser to check whether a fund's beneficial owner resides in Hong Kong and carries on any other business in the territory.

Both Hong Kong and Singapore stipulate an offshore fund can only qualify for tax exemption if at least 80 per cent of the fund is beneficially owned by non-residents.

Hong Kong Investment Funds Association executive director Sally Wong said her members are still reviewing the proposed wording of the legislation, which she hopes will 'help level the playing field with other major financial centres'.

The consultation period ends Feb 13.

Hehe....sometimes it does feel damn good to steal the thunder out of lumbering elephants! Thats how the small little witty mouse wins the day! ;)

By default, being small necessitates nifty and innovative solutions:cool:

And a willingness to accept centralised, well-coordinated control in the hands of well-qualified policy makers, and not get all jittery over any signs of "authoritarianism"? :D

Well that is an alien concept to many, and in discussions seen on this forum, there is no use arguing. You can talk till the cows come home;)

Originally posted by RafflesCity

Well that is an alien concept to many, and in discussions seen on this forum, there is no use arguing. You can talk till the cows come home;) Haha...okok...I get it. :D

Security, political risk here low: report

Only Australia and New Zealand have such environment for business in the region

SINGAPORE poses low security risk and insignificant political risk for companies wanting to do business here this year, according to a global forecast by an international business consultancy.

Although doubts about whether it can survive politically and economically are much in the minds of its people, battered by a year of Sars, fears of terrorism and economic weakness, some of this insecurity has been encouraged by the Government to prepare them for 'painful structural changes ahead', said the British-based Control Risks Group.

Its summary evaluation of Singapore in its report, RiskMap 2004, said: 'This emphasis on uncertainty may also be preparing the ground for Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong to step down and be replaced by 'a safe pair of hands' in the form of Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.'

Only Australia and New Zealand offer comparable safe business environments in the Asia-Pacific, according to the group, whose clients have included 86 of the Fortune 100 companies.

Overall, 26 of the 196 countries evaluated were rated to have insignificant political risk, including some Scandinavian countries and Caribbean island nations. They are judged to have favourable business environments, with stable government policy and a secure economy.

Asian countries with 'high' political risk included Afghanistan, North Korea and the Philippines.

For Singapore, preserving economic security will be of paramount importance this year. 'Some of the more obvious moves are in place like the CPF cuts,' said an analyst with the group, Mr Steve Wilford, but competition will come from across the spectrum.

The country's security risk level, the second indicator in the report, has moved up from 'insignificant' two years ago to 'low'. This is because of its support for the United States-led war in Iraq and the presence of terror groups in the region, said Mr Sam Vijaya, CRG's deputy country head.

Overall, as a critical front in the war against terror, 'Asia will not be a destination for the faint-hearted investor in 2004', said the report. 'But for those who hold their nerve, Asia will offer the most attractive business opportunities of anywhere in the world.'

China's spectacular growth and the region's economic renaissance will be the stars this year, but flashpoints remain, particularly in the tension between India and Pakistan.

Several elections this year also lend uncertainty to the region. While Malaysian PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should get the mandate he needs, neither Philippine President Gloria Arroyo nor Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri are assured of victory. Political violence is likely to accompany these polls, the report added.

Condo sales in China lift Keppel Land earnings

By Leong Pik Yin

BOOSTED by condominium sales in China, property group Keppel Land closed 2003 with an annual net profit of $100.6 million, a huge jump on the previous year's $26.4 million. Overall group sales more than doubled to $678.8 million, compared with the previous year. But this is lower than the $108.5-million estimate by 18 analysts polled earlier by Multex Global Estimates.

Keppel Land managing director Kevin Wong said at its results briefing yesterday that the company had performed 'reasonably well', given the weak property market here, which was further hit by the Sars outbreak. Aggressive expansion abroad helped lift sales, with income from overseas now making up 32 per cent of net profit, from just 3 per cent the year before.

The group's maiden residential project in Shanghai, the 1,118-unit One Park Avenue, was sold out.

The improved performance by Keppel Land - which is Singapore's fifth-largest property group - also came on the back of higher revenue from its local waterfront development Caribbean at Keppel Bay, as well as the sale of three Cluny Hill bungalow plots.

However, lacklustre demand for office space prompted it to write down the value of its office buildings by $143.1 million to $1.55 billion. Keppel Land also revalued its hotels in Myanmar downwards by $25.8 million. It said that it expects 2004 group profit to be at a similar level as 2003's. Earnings per share were 14.2 cents, up from 3.7 cents in 2002. A final dividend of 8 per cent (less tax) was recommended, up from 7 per cent the year before.

The group's maiden residential project in Shanghai, the 1,118-unit One Park Avenue, was sold out.http://www.keppelland.com.cn/opa/gb/img/opa/pic_05.jpg

Nice er? ;)

They look like those East Coast Park condos;)

4 Feb 2004

S'pore office rents competitive

By Woon Tai Keat

A JUST-RELEASED compilation of the world's most expensive office locations shows Singapore dropping two notches to the 61st position as at the end of last year from six months before.

Property consultancy CB Richard Ellis, which came up with the compilation, noted that with office rentals sliding by 20 per cent to an average of $4 per sq ft (psf) per month, renting an office in Singapore is cheaper than in places such as Beijing (S$4.74 psf per month) and Ho Chi Minh City (S$4.47 psf per month).

The property consultancy noted that although the delivery of 610,000 sq ft of new office space in Singapore last year was substantially below the 10-year average of 2.4 million sq ft per year, weak demand caused by 'depressed economic conditions' resulted in lower occupancy rates.

Office rentals at London's West End, at US$149 psf per year - or about S$21 psf per month - make it the most expensive in the world. West End has occupied that position since the end of 2000.

Given the strong euro, most of the other most expensive cities in the world also turned out to be European cities.

In fact, with the exception of inner central and outer central Tokyo, as well as Mumbai, the top 20 locations were in Europe.

Meanwhile, a slide in the value of the US dollar dislodged Moscow - where rents are traditionally quoted in terms of the greenback - from the top 10 list. It now occupies the 11th position.

Looking ahead, CB Richard Ellis expects a strengthening Singapore economy to translate into gradual improvements in the office market in the course of the year, with the prime office sector enjoying higher occupancy rates and rents increasing by 5 to 10 per cent.

However, it 'does not expect significant increases in rents until vacancy levels start to fall significantly'.

But companies more exposed to domestic market fare less well

6 Feb 2004

(SINGAPORE) Several key Temasek-linked companies (TLCs) are leading the charge in quarterly and full-year earnings, reaping the dividends from overseas expansion and benefiting from the recovery in global conditions, but those more exposed to the domestic market are faring less well.

Yesterday, both Singapore Telecommunications, the market's biggest stock, and Singapore Airlines (SIA), the fifth largest, reported earnings that beat market expectations.

SingTel, also South-east Asia's largest phone company, more than doubled its quarterly earnings, driven by a six-fold jump in profits from its Australian unit Optus and regional mobile usage growth. SingTel reported a net profit of $854 million in the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2003, up from $296 million a year ago.

Half of its earnings now come from operations outside Singapore, a payback for the $17 billion it spent in recent years expanding overseas. For the first nine months, SingTel's net profit was $2.52 billion, up from $1.1 billion.

On the back of projects and contracts won overseas, marine, engineering and property conglomerate Keppel Corp last week announced record full-year earnings of $398.1 million for 2003, up 11 per cent from a year ago. Its turnover also hit the $6 billion mark.

Overseas contributions are expected to feature as well when DBS Group Holdings, already South-east Asia's largest lender, post its 2003 results later this month. With a large Hong Kong presence after buying Dao Heng bank in 2001 for $10 billion, DBS is seen reporting a profit rise of 15 per cent to $291 million in the fourth quarter, according to Reuters consensus estimates. Net profit for the whole year of 2003 may rise one per cent to $1.02 billion.

Recovering conditions in global sectors are also feeding into the bottomline of TLCs. SIA more than doubled quarterly profits due to the recovery in global air travel, along with better yield management and cost cutting efforts. It posted a net profit of $377.9 million in the three months to Dec 31 against $180 million in the same period a year ago, besting market forecasts.

Improvements in the global technology sector helped chip maker Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing and chip tester ST Assembly Test Services (Stats) narrow their losses.

Chartered reported a loss of $484.4 million in 2003, down substantially from its $709.5 million loss in 2002, while Stats saw its losses narrow to $2.9 million in 2003 from $151.9 million in the previous year.

Strong freight rates are expected to power shipping line Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), flagbearer of the buoyant marine sector, to record earnings for 2003.

NOL, yet to announce its results, recently said that its freight rates rose 16 per cent in the six weeks to Dec 26 from a year earlier, helped by demand for its service to Europe and the Middle East. NOL is forecast to earn $655 million in 2003 compared with a loss of $433 million in 2002, according to Reuters estimates.

While some TLCs get a boost from overseas earnings and global markets, domestic factors are weighing on the earnings of others.

Squeezed by a foundering real estate market in Singapore, property group CapitaLand Ltd is set to report its first loss in eight quarters despite strong condominium sales in China.

A Reuters survey forecast losses of about $67.2 million for CapitaLand in the quarter to Dec 31, reflecting a writedown on its Singapore offices. For the whole of 2003, net profit is seen coming in lower than the $290.2 million it earned in 2002.

And stung by competition and GST hikes, rail operator SMRT Corp said last week that third quarter profit dipped one per cent to $19.1 million as train yields fell.

It'll pump over $50m to expand capacity, taking over German slack

6 Feb 2004


THE world's third largest silicon wafer maker, Wacker Siltronic, yesterday said it will invest more than $50 million to expand capacity at its Singapore plant, making it Siltronic's largest 200mm silicon wafer factory globally.

The latest move takes the total Singapore investment above $650 million and makes the Tampines site its newest 200mm site worldwide with output exceeding 240,000 wafers a month.

Although Paul Lindblad, president of Siltronic's plant here, declined to specify how much capacity the Singapore plant will eventually achieve, trade magazines have already reported the figure last October at about 300,000 wafers a month.

This will represent about 'less than 50 per cent' of Siltronic's total 200mm output, said Mr Lindblad.

The Singapore plant will take over some slack capacity moved from an existing plant in Wasserburg, Germany, that will be closed by end-2004.

Siltronic closed a plant in Malaysia last year because of severe pricing pressure and global oversupply. Singapore will also become one of the company's core development centres for manufacturing process technology for silicon wafers, resulting in 150 new jobs when fully realised.

'We see the semiconductor roadmap pushing customers to below 100 nanometre line widths even on 200mm wafers. With global overcapacity, it makes sense to consolidate our strengths on the newest plant here in Singapore,' said Mr Lindblad.

Silicon wafers are pieces of pure and ultra-flat silicon used by wafer fabs to etch the fine circuits onto the surface, a key component in making microchips.

Local customers include UMCi, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing and TECH Semiconductor.

Commenting on the timing of the capacity expansion, Mr Lindblad said that most analysts believed 2004 to be a year of still-healthy growth for the semiconductor industry.

An industry source says silicon wafers generally trended downwards last year. But prime wafer makers are still seeing prices holding up for the best-grade wafers, which sell from anything between US$90 and US$150 per 200mm wafer.

Lower grades of wafers for test purposes to calibrate wafer fab manufacturing processes sell for US$30 to US$40 per wafer.

In Asia, the main producers include Japan's Shin-Etsu Hadotai, the world No 1 maker of such wafers by market share.

Others include Komatsu Electronic Metals and Sumco, a merger of the silicon wafer operations of Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd and Mitsubishi Materials Corp.

About 20 per cent of Siltronic's 3 billion euro (S$6.4 billion) sales is made in the Asia-Pacific, where Siltronic employs over 1,700 workers.

;)

7 Feb 2004

UNITED States fund manager Principal Global Investors has strengthened its emerging markets operations in Singapore and London to beef up coverage of this asset class.

The Des Moines, Iowa-based firm, which has around US$110 billion (S$187.3 billion) under management, recently boosted the number of its investment professionals in London to 15.

The Singapore office, which is located near Suntec Singapore, has nearly doubled staff numbers to nine over the past 12 months. This has allowed the firm to expand the research function of the office into a new 'full service' role.

'We're making Singapore the hub of our asset management business in Asia,' said Mr Michael Marusiak, portfolio manager, who was transferred here last August from the US.

In addition to him, the firm will have two equity analysts, a fixed-income analyst, a trader and four support staff based here, once one recent recruit completes her training in the US.

Mr Marusiak said that the firm has further plans to hire an institutional sales person who will be based here later this year.

The fund manager, which is part of the Principal Financial Group, joins its US peers in expanding outside of its traditional domestic markets to seek bigger profits in faster growing regions around the world.

Mr Marusiak said the decision to expand its Singapore operations stemmed from the desire to be closer to some of Principal's markets, to make it easier to clinch sales in the region and to be near pension fund joint ventures in India and Malaysia.

Principal's clients are mainly pension funds and other institutional clients around the world.

The group has 15 investment professionals in its London office.

High-End Chip Maker Bases HQ in Singapore

Singapore's aim to take its manufacturing to new high-tech levels got a boost yesterday (February 3) as United States-based electronics giant Xilinx declared the Republic its first Asia-Pacific headquarters.
Xilinx is the world's No. 1 supplier of a highly sophisticated type of microchip that can be programmed. It is used in a wide range of cutting-edge electronics products like plasma screen televisions.

Singapore, only the third Xilinx regional headquarters after San Jose, California and Dublin, Ireland, won the big vote of confidence despite the fact that most Xilinx chips are manufactured in Taiwan by a business partner.

Xilinx expects much of that production to shift to the Republic in the next few years.

The company said it would invest about US$20 million (S$34 million) to US$30 million to set up a chip testing facility by June next year and would create more than 200 skilled jobs over the next three to four years.

Revenues from its local operations are expected to hit as much as US$1 billion a year.

The headquarters will carry out regional finance, sales, human resources and customer service operations. It will include facilities for research and development, logistics and warehousing.

The move comes less than five months after another US-based chip design company, Volterra, opened its regional headquarters here, joining more than 35 such firms here.

Singapore's chip industry generated $18 billion in output last year, accounting for almost a third of the country's total electronics output.

Xilinx chips perform functions such as data communication, signal processing and data display, and can be found in communications devices and other high-end electronics products such as car navigation systems.

Unlike more traditional integrated circuits, which have their functions fixed as the chips are made, Xilinx's programmable chips allow customers to customise the functions after manufacture.

This offers greater flexibility and savings in development time and costs.

Chief financial officer Kris Chellam said Xilinx, which outsources all its chip production, was basing its regional operations here because its manufacturing partner's most advanced chip plant was located at Pasir Ris.

Taiwan's United Microelectronics Corp (UMC), which makes most of Xilinx's chips, is expected to shift production of Xilinx's highest-end chips to its US$3.6 billion plant here, operated by local subsidiary UMCi.

This, according to Mr Chellam, could result in investments by UMC to beef up production here.

Xilinx is one of UMC's top three customers.

UMCi president Chris Chi was unable to confirm this yesterday but he added that the company would decide next month whether to pump more money into its local operations.

Mr Chellam said other key reasons for choosing Singapore were: Support from the Government, proximity to major regional markets, and a multi-lingual workforce.

He said Asia contributed 37 per cent of its revenues which hit US$365.6 million for the quarter ended December 31. This is expected to rise to more than 50 per cent in the next few years, overtaking the US, its current top market.

Mr Stacy Fender will head the Singapore base as Asia-Pacific general manager, overseeing 10 offices and 150 employees in the region.

Source: The Straits Times, February 4, 2004

I dream of the day when we can really give Taiwan a run for their money by becoming a key global chip maker. And it also shows we arent just dependent on finances unlike other small economies?

Originally posted by huaiwei

I dream of the day when we can really give Taiwan a run for their money by becoming a key global chip maker. And it also shows we arent just dependent on finances unlike other small economies?

I think Singapore is one of the biggest producers of chips anyway. How formidable is Taiwan in the market?

9 Feb 2004

SINGAPORE : Global express and logistics firm DHL has set up its new Asia Pacific regional office in Singapore.

The new office takes up four floors of the Parkview Square building at North Bridge Road and will house close to 320 staff.

In total, DHL has over 1,500 employees in Singapore.

The regional office also houses the company's first quality control centre for tracking every shipment in the Asia Pacific 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

This ensures that every shipment query is answered promptly.

DHL handled over 40 million shipments in the Asia Pacific last year. - CNA

3 Feb 2004

by Silvia Wang

The URA statistics for the fourth quarter of 2003 suggest that residential prices may be bottoming out. The overall residential price index fell only marginally by 0.1% while the index for non-landed properties stayed flat. For the whole year, although the price index declined by 2% and was just a tad more than the 1.8% drop the previous year, most of the decline took place in the first half of 2003. Other encouraging trends in 2003 are also spotted.

Prices of apartments have improved for two straight quarters in the second half of the year, rising 2.3% during this period. The improvement in prices may be attributed to the strong sales of new apartments in the market. As we have noticed that a number of smallish apartment developments that were launched in the second half received very encouraging take-up rates of at least 95%. These developments include Morning Glory, Calypso and East Treasure.

Although condominium prices have continued to slide, the rate of decline has shrunk. The biggest drop was during the first two quarters of 2003 with 0.9% for each quarter. This was due to the war effect and outbreak of Sars. However, the rate of decline has since slowed with 0.6% and 0.5% registered in the third and fourth quarters respectively. The decline in condominium prices is more likely due to the transactions in the secondary market as prices of new units launched in 2003 have actually remained relatively stable.

As for sales volume, despite primary home sales being the lowest in the last ten years, we estimate that 89% of the 5,216 new homes launched in 2003 were taken up. This reflects the fact that appetite for new homes remained strong despite many obstacles faced during the year from the outbreak of Sars, the Iraq War and the adjustment of the CPF contribution. The smaller number of new homes sold in 2003 was partly a reflection of developers holding back launches amidst fragile market sentiment.

So on the whole, the residential market did not perform as badly as perceived. With the improvement in economic outlook, homebuyers are likely to be more active this year. Majority of the developers are gearing up for more residential launches. With a selection of projects and pent-up demand from last year, we expect to see a return of home sales volume this year.

The URA statistics have also signalled an improving office market. Although the net demand for the last quarter remained negative at 64,584 sq ft, it is the smallest contraction since 4Q01. This improvement is primarily attributed to the increase of leasing activity from the financial sector. A growing number of foreign banks are making Singapore the home for their high-value added backroom operations, hence the increase in space requirement.

Due to this increase in leasing activities, the decline in rental rates has tapered off in the second half of 2003. The average prime rent has seemingly reached a supportable level at $4.00 per sq ft per month, as it has remained at this level for the last two quarters.

As strong economic indicators point towards a recovery, together with limited new office supply in these coming two years, the outlook of the office market is looking brighter though this has to be tempered with some caution. The broader office market will see improvement only after the prime office market regains its ground. We expect this will begin to happen in 2004, with greater activity and higher occupancies in the prime office market, which will likely drive a marginal upward adjustment in prime rent in the later part of the year.

Singapore sees FTA with India in few months
Associated Press
Singapore, February 9

Singapore said on Monday that it expects to finalize a free trade deal with India within a few months.

The pact is expected to be a model for a free trade deal between India and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations due to be completed by 2012, Singapore Trade and Industry Minister of State Vivian Balakrishnan said.

"Details are being hammered out, but both governments are committed to concluding the (agreement) in the next few months," Balakrishnan said.

Singapore and India launched talks on a free trade accord in May 2003, and the two sides last met in November.

"India's economic renaissance is unstoppable," Balakrishnan told an India-ASEAN forum.

An agreement would lower tariffs on goods and services from both countries. Singapore's telecommunications, financial services, education, shipping, and electronics sectors are expected to benefit from a deal.

Balakrishnan said the Singapore-India accord would also include an air services agreement, but didn't elaborate. The two nations already have an "open skies" pact under an ASEAN-India agreement. The official also said there would be measures to reduce taxes for each other's companies.

Singaporean real estate developers are particularly interested in entering India's housing market, he said.

Meanwhile, the Singapore government's holding company, Temasek, has bought a stake in ICICI Bank, India's largest private bank, and two pharmaceutical companies, he said.

Trade between India and Singapore totaled $6.9 billion in 2002, according to the most recent data available.

Free trade agreements are a cornerstone of resource-poor Singapore's economic policy. It has already inked free trade pacts with the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein over the past two years.

The government is also currently holding talks with Bahrain, Canada, Chile, India, Sri Lanka and South Korea. Singapore is also exploring a possible free trade agreement with Pakistan.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_565782,0002.htm

Originally posted by RafflesCity

I think Singapore is one of the biggest producers of chips anyway. How formidable is Taiwan in the market? If Im not wrong, it is in 2nd place, with Taiwan as first by quite a wide margin? Maybe i can do a little research on this.

Hmm..given Taiwan's situation with China I wonder if that will affect their attraction for investors.

FTA with India sounds great although I read that it was somewhat delayed. Good to hear its coming along:cheers:

Mumbai agency aims to attract Indian firms to S'pore; FTA talks with India will be completed over next two months

10 Feb 2004

By Narendra Aggarwal

THE Economic Development Board (EDB), Singapore's inward investment promotion agency, is getting ready to open its first office in India within the next few months.

The new office in the city of Mumbai - the country's vibrant business capital - will aim to engage more Indian companies in a bid to attract them to do business in Singapore.

The number of Indian firms coming to Singapore already exceeds those from China, according to new EDB figures.

Meanwhile, talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries are on track to be concluded over the next two months despite the ensuing national general elections in India.

These moves underscore the rising importance of India, said Minister of State for Trade and Industry Vivian Balakrishnan yesterday.

He was speaking at the Institute of South-east Asian Studies' (Iseas') newly set-up Asean-India Forum's inaugural two-day seminar on Asean-India Economics Relations: The Road Ahead.

'The Ceca will be concluded within the next two months, elections in India not withstanding,' he emphasised.

Ceca is the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, an enlarged free-trade pact that Singapore and India are currently in the final stages of negotiating.

Some businessmen here have expressed concern that the Ceca talks could lose momentum following the dissolution of Indian parliament last Friday and the country going for early elections.

Dr Balakrishnan said yesterday that the Indian political leadership had directed the bureaucrats to continue with the talks. However, the signing of the agreement itself could be delayed slightly, till the formation of a new government in New Delhi.

Responding to questions, the minister emphasised that the Ceca with India was not meant to exclude Asean neighbours. On the contrary, it would 'open a super highway' to spur the proposed Asean-India FTA.

He also disclosed that work was in progress on an avoidance of double taxation treaty with India, but he was unable to give any details.

The EDB's new office in Mumbai will be its sixth centre in Asia. It has two offices each in Japan and China, and one in Jakarta. Its first office in India will raise the number of its overseas offices to 18.

An EDB spokesman told The Straits Times that the Mumbai office will aim to attract Indian investors and companies to Singapore.

'India represents tremendous opportunities not only in terms of market potential but also as sources of investment,' said EDB's assistant managing director, Mr Chua Taik Him.

'We want to proactively attract Indian companies to exploit the many advantages that Singapore can offer to them. Setting up an office in India will help accelerate this process.'

In fact, India is an important emerging market with 1,441 Indian enterprises having set up shop in Singapore as at the end of last year, up from 1,184 at end-2002.

This compared to 1,160 from China at the end of last year and 1,028 at end-2002, according to EDB data.

In fact, EDB's move into Mumbai is timely as it is a little-known fact that rapidly growing India is emerging as a foreign investor itself.

Dr Rahul Sen, a fellow at Iseas, pointed out that last year, Indian firms were reported to have made 49 foreign direct investment (FDI) transactions amounting to US$1.8 billion (S$3 billion).

But none of that money came to Asean. All of it went to the West - to Europe and the United States.

Dr Sen suggested that Asean investment agencies should open offices in India to draw FDI from the country to the region.

Move will lift firm from bottom to top rung among Big 4

10 Feb 2004

(SINGAPORE) Deloitte & Touche Singapore yesterday announced ambitious plans to double its current headcount in the next few years to 2,200.

http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2004-02-10/bt040210a7.gif

The move, aimed at tapping growth in the region, would catapult the firm from the bottom to the top among the Big Four audit firms here in terms of staff strength.

Deloitte's bold plans seem to have taken the industry by surprise as the trend has been to increase hiring in the respective domestic markets when there is growth as cost is much lower there than having more staff based in Singapore.

Presently, Deloitte Singapore has 1,100 people and is the smallest of the Big Four in terms of headcount.

William Parrett, global chief executive of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, said the Singapore office will also become the group's third centre of excellence in Asia, after Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Singapore is a magnet for global and regional multinational headquarters and it makes sense to further develop Deloitte Singapore's expertise to meet clients' business challenges, said New York-based Mr Parrett, speaking to the media yesterday.

He was in town to address a US-Asean forum, his first visit here since becoming Deloitte's global chief executive last June.

'As a centre of excellence, we will be strategically expanding our current recruitment of global and local professionals into our key service areas,' Mr Parrett said. Deloitte Singapore will double its headcount in the next few years, as it builds its multi-disciplinary capabilities for its centre of excellence role, he said.

For example, the firm's financial services unit will add some 100 jobs in the next two years to 200 people, he said. He expects about half of the new jobs to be filled via local recruitment and the rest transferred from other centres.

Globally, the financial services practice is Deloitte's largest industry group, with revenues of US$3 billion, accounting for about one-fifth of total group revenues of US$15.1 billion.

Commenting on the staff expansion, Chaly Mah, managing partner of Deloitte Singapore, said: 'The objective is to use Singapore to support the region.'

Specifically, 'The growth rate is much faster in non-audit areas such as tax, risk management, asset management, mergers and acquisition and forensics,' Mr Mah said.

As part of building the capability, Deloitte & Touche Singapore is combining with Deloitte Consulting.

Mr Parrett said Deloitte is making a big push in China and will invest US$150 million over the next five years in that country.

The Big Four audit firms are rushing into China hoping to get a slice of the action in the world's fastest growing economy. While Deloitte is investing to build up its practice in China, it will also tap on its offices in Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong, he said.

The Singapore office already helps the China and India practices on some of their projects, said Mr Mah.

Some of Deloitte's Big Four rivals were surprised to hear of its big plans for the Singapore office, citing the trend of increasing staff in the respective domestic markets in the region.

'It's far cheaper to hire regionally; look at the outsourcing and outshoring trend,' said the head of one Big Four firm.

Mr Mah said the outsourcing trend to China and India is for lower end jobs in non-critical areas. 'For us, we are talking about bringing in the experts and specialists,' he said.

10 Feb 2004


GIVAUDAN, one of the biggest creators and suppliers of fragrances and flavours in the world, opened a $20 million research and development (R&D) facility in Singapore yesterday as part of its expansion plans.

The facility is the company's largest in the Asia Pacific and will house an additional 50 R&D scientists and technologists, bringing the total number of employees in Givaudan Singapore to more than 350.

Givaudan Singapore Pte Ltd was established in 1995, and is the company's Asia Pacific regional centre.

The company is looking to use the new R&D facility to extend its presence to China, where the company is at the planning stage of a groundbreaking ceremony.

Another key objective of the facility is to establish additional capacity for Givaudan's growing business. The facility will also include a centre for research in ethnic Asian flavours.

The facility was officially opened by Teo Ming Kian, chairman of the Economic Development Board. At the ceremony, Dr Jurg Witmer, CEO of Givaudan, said the new facility will enable Givaudan to fulfil the needs of the emerging Asian market. He cited the expertise available in Singapore as the reason Givaudan decided to set up its R&D facility here despite the relatively high-cost environment.

Swiss-based Givaudan had sales of 1.38 billion Swiss francs (S$1.9 billion) in the first half of 2003. The company has around 5,800 employees in 40 countries.

The 17% jump in reserves is the biggest in a year since 1995 as more trade and investments flow in, says MAS

10 Feb 2004

BUOYED by strong trade and investment inflows, Singapore's official foreign reserves jumped 17 per cent last year to US$96.3 billion (S$163.2 billion), according to the latest data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The jump is the biggest in a year since 1995.

This surge in foreign reserves echoes a wider trend in Asia, as foreign reserves in economies such as Japan, China and South Korea swelled last year. The size of a country's foreign reserves reflects its foreign-currency savings and its ability to defend itself against currency attacks.

MAS had released preliminary figures last month, which were confirmed yesterday.

Analysts say Asia's burgeoning reserves reflect strong trade surpluses and growing investment inflows.

Another key reason is that Asian central banks have been selling their own currencies and accumulating foreign currencies, to keep their currency from appreciating too fast against the US dollar or euro.

A vigorous appreciation of a country's currency makes exports more expensive for buyers, and less competitive.

IDEAglobal analyst Nizam Idris says foreign reserves of all Asian countries jumped 33 per cent last year to breach the US$2-trillion mark.

'Singapore's extraordinary rise in reserves is not unusual compared to the rest of the region because each of these economies is trying to maintain an artificially weak currency to remain competitive,' he said.

Asian central banks had to sell more of their own currencies and buy more foreign currencies last year, as the US dollar weakened with the Bush administration's deliberate weak-dollar policy.

Mr Idris said: 'With the weak-dollar policy, reserves in Asia have increased by a lot more.'

For Singapore, the 17-per-cent rise in official foreign reserves amounted to the biggest jump since 1995.

In 1994 and 1995 too, the US dollar was weak, which partly explained an 18-per-cent rise in Singapore's foreign reserves in 1995.

But Mr Idris noted that in the past two years, the US dollar's weakness has been more pronounced. The dollar index against major currencies fell 28 per cent over the last two years, compared to 16.7 per cent in 1994 and 1995.

Total official foreign reserves comprise gold and foreign exchange as well as special drawing rights and a reserve position in the International Monetary Fund.

Gold and foreign exchange form the bulk of the foreign reserves, accounting for $161.5 billion at the end of last year. In Singapore dollar terms, total foreign reserves were $163.2 billion at the end of last year.

Preliminary numbers for last month showed that foreign reserves continued to climb to US$98.6 billion.

But Singapore's surging foreign reserves are eclipsed by both the size of and an increase in the foreign reserves of China and Japan.

China's foreign reserves surged 41 per cent to US$403 billion at the end of last year, from US$286.2 billion at end-2002. In the same period, Japan's foreign reserves jumped 43 per cent to US$673 billion.

US banking giant cites good infrastructure, connectivity and high-quality workforce for its choice of S'pore over lower-cost venues

11 Feb 2004

By Edna Koh

WALL Street investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) yesterday opened a global support centre in Singapore - its first in Asia - despite the growing trend to move such functions to lower-cost markets such as India and China.

CSFB executives said they considered cheaper alternatives but chose Singapore partly because of better infrastructure here and high-quality employees, as well as because the firm wanted to 'make sure it works and works well'.

The new centre at Changi had an investment cost of 'well over eight figures', and will add another 130 jobs to take the total number of support staff that CSFB has in Singapore to 350 by year-end.

The bulk of the posts will be in operations, information technology and finance, and will be filled through a combination of new recruitment and redeployment of staff from other CSFB offices, said the company's officials.

'It's a landmark event,' CSFB chairman and chief executive (Asia-Pacific) Paul Calello told reporters after the opening of the centre, which occupies 30,700 sq ft at the Changi Business Park, yesterday.

'It gives us a chance to follow the sun, after the work day ends in other parts of the world, and to continue development.'

At present, CSFB has support hubs only in London and New York.

With a support centre in Singapore being in a different time zone, new technology can be tested out, or non exchange-traded products such as derivatives transactions processed, before the New York day starts.

Asked why it did not decide on India or China, where costs are lower, its head of global technology, operations and product control, Ms Eileen Murray, said: 'Cost is a big piece of it. But this is a long-term strategic initiative for us. We want to make sure it works and it works well.'

What Singapore has going for it is its superior infrastructure, connectivity and high-quality labour force. The bank also has a major presence here, with about 600 staff.

Furthermore, CSFB officials said the new operation 'was not a call centre'.

'This is high-end work that requires professional staff,' said Ms Murray.

CSFB's decision to site a global support centre here represents another leg-up for Singapore, which has ambitions of becoming a global processing hub for financial transactions.

So far, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Bank of India and Barclays Capital are among the banks to have made Singapore their global centre for certain processing functions.

But cheaper centres such as India and China are also proving a draw.

For example, Standard Chartered Bank has established centres in Chennai and Kuala Lumpur to handle global back-office work, while HSBC Bank has processing centres in cities such as Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Move aimed at building up diverse and critical mass to draw others here

12 Feb 2004


THE Economic Development Board, used to wooing investments from global businesses, is also showing an interest in non-profit-making international organisations.

It wants them to set up their headquarters in Singapore to help build up a diverse and critical mass that will be a magnet for even more businesses to anchor here.

Last year, the EDB surpassed its target of 25 when it lured 27 companies to Singapore with its incentive award for HQ operations - up from 25 in 2002, Kenneth Tan, EDB director of services cluster, said at a media briefing yesterday.

And the prognosis for this year looks good, he added, given the number of businesses already in EDB's pipeline for HQ operations awards.

The EDB, which simplified its incentive plans for business HQs last year, will make its incentives even more attractive in the coming months to draw not only businesses but also international organisations and non-governmental organisations to set up HQ operations here, said Mr Tan.

Details are still under wraps.

'Efforts will be made in new areas such as anchoring the HQs of international organisations and non governmental organisations to use Singapore as a base to offer a diverse range of services such as research and conferences to the region,' the EDB said in a statement.

'Building on Singapore's superior business infrastructure and connectivity to the region, EDB aims to establish Singapore as a premier hub for IOs and NGOs.'

Mr Tan said the non-profit organisations that set up HQ operations here - in addition to boosting business spendings and creating jobs - will spur industrial linkages, lend their brand names to Singapore and educate regional consumers in the services market.

They will add to the 'vibrancy' of the services sector and give intellectual property development a push in the bio-science, electronics and chemicals industries.

EDB used to hand out four HQ operations incentive awards - the Business HQ, Manufacturing HQ, Operational HQ and Global HQ awards. These have been consolidated into the International HQ and Regional HQ awards.

EDB has given 280 HQ awards since the scheme was started in 1986. And there are over 4,000 more companies with regional HQ operations here.

Companies drawn to start HQ operations in Singapore last year were manufacturers, Asian firms using Singapore as a base for international business and players from emerging clusters such as Pimkie Orsay, a leading European fashion retail group.

At yesterday's briefing, EDB also said:


Singapore's first privately funded and managed university is likely to be unveiled in 'a couple of months'. EDB is in talks with a reputed foreign university to start the private university.


EDB is 'cautiously optimistic' about the performance of the professional, education and engineering and environmental services this year. Despite a tough year, these businesses invested $976 million in 2003, up from $906 million in 2002.

The investments will contribute to $1.3 billion of valued-added yearly to the economy when the projects are fully implemented, and create 3,025 jobs.

12 Feb 2004

By Nicholas Fang

GLOBAL supply-chain management player Exel has opened a $23-million hub at the Airport Logistics Park of Singapore (Alps), reaffirming the company's confidence in and commitment to the Republic.

The 285,140-sq-ft facility houses Exel's Asia-Pacific headquarters and its Singapore office. It includes warehouse operations, allowing the British company to service customers such as Infineon, Maxtor and Texas Instruments.

Exel chief executive officer John Allan said at the opening ceremony yesterday that the new hub demonstrated the company's commitment to Singapore and the region.

He said: 'Our Asia-Pacific regional headquarters is based here because Singapore has the necessary infrastructure to support a regional supply-chain management nerve centre.

'We continue to have confidence in Singapore's position to capitalise on the tremendous growth potential in the supply-chain industry in the Asia-Pacific.'

Trade and Industry Minister George Yeo said at the ceremony yesterday: 'We must continue giving good reasons to companies to invest in Singapore and do things here. Alps is an example of this.

'I was delighted to hear from the Economic Development Board that Exel is already thinking of expanding this facility.'

Exel employs around 67,000 people in 1,600 locations across 120 countries. It employs more than 1,000 people in Singapore alone.

13 Feb 2004

-S'pore firms pumped $4.5b into the mainland last year
-Bilateral trade also grew 37 per cent to $32.4b

By Edna Koh

ECONOMIC links between Singapore and China are moving closer and closer, and are set to deepen further this year, a senior Chinese official has said.

Despite the Sars outbreak, with its epicentre in southern China, Singapore companies invested US$2.7 billion (S$4.5 billion) on the mainland last year, up 15 per cent from US$2.34 billion the previous year, he disclosed.

This made the Republic the sixth-biggest investor there. Actual cumulative foreign direct investment (FDI) by Singapore companies in China is now US$21.6 billion.

And Singapore FDI in China last year grew at a much faster rate than global FDI there, which posted a weak 1.4-per-cent rise to US$53.5 billion, well short of targets.

Two-way trade is also on the growth path, up a robust 37 per cent at US$19.3 billion (S$32.4 billion) last year.

'The future is very bright. The two countries are getting closer and closer, and this year will be very fruitful for China-Singapore economic cooperation,' said Mr Zhou Hong Li, Minister Counsellor at the Chinese Embassy here, in a recent interview.

Due to the long wait for a listing on the Shanghai or Shenzhen bourses, he expects a record 40 to 50 China firms to list on the Singapore Exchange this year, up from 14 last year, and none in 2002.

More Chinese companies are also setting up shop here.

Last year, 27 Chinese firms - many of them state-owned enterprises - set up representative or branch offices here. This was more than double the 12 which did so in 2002, and adds to the 200 or so Chinese companies - including China Aviation Oil, Bank of China and Air China - which have operations here.

'Singapore is a good springboard for Chinese enterprises. Hong Kong offers a window to China, but to explore international markets, Singapore may be better because it is very much nearer Asean,' said Mr Zhou, on why more China firms are making Singapore their regional hub.

The attraction of Singapore as a gateway to the region lies in its clean and efficient Government, developed financial services sector, strong connections with the rest of Asia and the cultural similarities between the two countries.

Pro-business policies of the Singapore Government is another plus point.

From last December for example, immigration policies were relaxed to make it easier for Chinese businessmen to get multiple-journey visas for Singapore that are valid for up to five years.

And since last year, rules have been relaxed so that hotels here are able to screen mainland Chinese television programmes.

'The overall environment is getting better and better,' said Mr Zhou.

Still, he hoped that Singapore immigration policies can be relaxed further. For example, he said that unless a for eigner earns the equivalent of $2,500 a month back home, he or she will not be granted an employment pass here.

Mr Zhou hoped that this policy could be relooked as the compensation system in China 'is different'.

Unlike in Singapore, workers of state-owned companies in China may have their flats or cars paid for by the government. So although their actual pay may fall short of $2,500, taken as a whole, their compensation package could far outstrip that amount, he said.

13 Feb 2004

ONE of China's top brands, Shanghai-listed Amoi Electronics, has moved its regional sales office from Hong Kong to Singapore, and plans to use the Republic as a springboard into Asia.

In doing so, it is following in the footsteps of a growing number of firms that are using Singapore as a gateway into the region.

But Mr Zhou Hong Li, Minister Counsellor at the Chinese Embassy here, heralded Amoi's move as a 'new era for Chinese companies in Singapore'. This, he said, was because its product is high-end and the company has 'the technical know-how'.

In China, Amoi is the third-largest domestic mobile phone brand, after Ningbo Bird and TCL, and has an 8-per-cent share of the market there. Last year, about 70 million cellphones were sold in China, and though Nokia and Motorola are still the market leaders, the Chinese brands are strongly gaining ground.

In Singapore, Amoi has appointed two-time Enterprise 50 award winner Telepoint Distribution to sell its consumer electronic products, which range from DVD players to cellphones.

And reflecting Amoi's belief in the quality of its products, its cellphones will not be sold cheaply, with prices ranging from $288 to $688 without contracts.

Even so, they have found support among the Chinese community here, said Telepoint managing director Kelvin Tan. Chinese tourists will be another target market as China-made cellphones costs 30 per cent more in China compared to Singapore.

Amoi is so confident of the improving image of China-made goods that it is targeting sales of over $100 million worth of its electronic products here and in the region by next year.

'Singapore is chosen as an Asean gateway because we feel that if our products can be accepted here, the rest of the region will also accept them,' said Amoi general manager Steven Chan. -- Edna Koh

FEB 7, 2004

US fund manager expands S'pore business

UNITED States fund manager Principal Global Investors has strengthened its emerging markets operations in Singapore and London to beef up coverage of this asset class. The Des Moines, Iowa-based firm, which has around US$110 billion (S$187.3 billion) under management, recently boosted the number of its investment professionals in London to 15.

The Singapore office, which is located near Suntec Singapore, has nearly doubled staff numbers to nine over the past 12 months. This has allowed the firm to expand the research function of the office into a new 'full service' role. 'We're making Singapore the hub of our asset management business in Asia,' said Mr Michael Marusiak, portfolio manager, who was transferred here last August from the US.

In addition to him, the firm will have two equity analysts, a fixed-income analyst, a trader and four support staff based here, once one recent recruit completes her training in the US. Mr Marusiak said that the firm has further plans to hire an institutional sales person who will be based here later this year.

The fund manager, which is part of the Principal Financial Group, joins its US peers in expanding outside of its traditional domestic markets to seek bigger profits in faster growing regions around the world. Mr Marusiak said the decision to expand its Singapore operations stemmed from the desire to be closer to some of Principal's markets, to make it easier to clinch sales in the region and to be near pension fund joint ventures in India and Malaysia.

Principal's clients are mainly pension funds and other institutional clients around the world. The group has 15 investment professionals in its London office.

Singapore retail sales seen ending 2003 with a surge
Reuters
Singapore, February 13


Singapore's retail sales index is expected to see a strong rise in the final month of 2003, pushed up by last minute spending ahead of a consumption tax rise and due to aggressive sales efforts from retailers.

The median expectation of a Reuters poll was for retail sales to rise nine per cent over December 2002 for a ninth straight month of year-on-year gains since April when the impact of the deadly SARS virus on spending activity peaked.

The data will be released on Monday at 1 pm (0500 GMT).

In month-on-month terms, where few economists make forecasts, the poll found a median expectation for retail sales, adjusted for seasonal patterns, to rise 3.75 per cent in December from November.

"Retail sales likely rebounded in December reflecting a combination of increased auto sales and the frontloading of purchases of big-ticket items," said Chia-Liang Lian, an economist at JP Morgan Chase.

In November the retail sales index was up 10.3 per cent on the same month a year earlier, but down 2.4 per cent on October after adjustment for seasonal patterns.

The Singapore government raised its Goods and Services Tax by one percentage point to five per cent on January 1, 2004.

As a result, in the run-up to Christmas retailers reported strong sales of items like home entertainment systems, digital equipment and electronic appliances.

The index has also been volatile in recent months, because of erratic car sales, which constitute a large part of the city state's retail trade.

"Year-end spending was also lifted by aggressive promotions by retailers as well as credit card issuers," said Song Seng Wun, economist at GK Goh Research.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_570719,00020008.htm

Ho Ching lifts veil over Temasek - partly

Often shrouded in a mystique, not many people know much about Temasek Holdings. Its executive director, HO CHING, gave some clues in a speech at the Institute of Policy Studies yesterday. Excerpts from her speech:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WE WERE incorporated in 1974 to hold the Singapore Government's investments in companies and businesses. As the monitoring arm of the Finance Minister, we were responsible for tracking the performance of the various investments and companies, and for reviewing and appointing directors and chairmen to the boards of various companies to represent the Government's interest as a shareholder.

This thoughtful move to interpose an investment holding company between the Government and its investee companies also clearly separated the incidental role of government as an owner and shareholder, from its over-arching responsibility as policymaker and market regulator. A mandate was thus tacitly given for government-owned companies to operate purely as commercial enterprises, and for Temasek to deliver value as an investment holding company.

Since then, much has come to pass, and Singapore too has evolved in that process. Throughout, Temasek acted very much as a commercial entity, investing as well as divesting our stakes in companies, where it made commercial sense.

NatSteel is a case in point. Temasek first invested $2.9 million in 1975, and fully divested its stake 11 years later in 1986. A further 12 years passed, before Temasek reinvested in NatSteel in 1998, convinced of the commercial merits for co-investing with NatSteel overseas in Brazil. Today, Temasek is again completely out from NatSteel as well as NatSteel Brasil, achieving an overall internal rate of return of 14 per cent in the process, with net profits of $98 million. Perhaps we should have used a three-digit name, instead of 98 Holdings, for the general offer vehicle to help us get even better profits!

On its part, the Government took care not to be involved in the business decisions of the government-linked companies, whether in the choice of aircraft that Singapore Airlines (SIA) buys, or in the overseas investment decisions of PSA Corp or SingTel.

This voluntary abstinence from direct involvement in the operational management of state-owned enterprise is a unique and admirable ownership stance that sets the Singapore state-owned enterprises apart from many of their counterparts in the world. Credit is overdue to the far-sighted founding fathers of modern Singapore.

To date, Temasek has given its shareholder a total return of more than 16 per cent compounded annually over the last 30 years, based on dividend flow and growth in shareholders' funds. If we consider the market value of our investments, then the total shareholder returns to the Government would be a compounded annual return of more than 18 per cent over a 30-year period, including an average annual dividend yield of some 6.7 per cent.

Our TSR or total shareholder return over the last 10 years was more than 13 per cent based on dividends and market value of our shareholdings. While this is well below General Electric's TSR of 27 per cent for the same period, it is comparable or better than some of the large international groups, which we benchmark ourselves against. Dividend yield to the Ministry of Finance over the last 10 years averaged a respectable 7 per cent annually, partly bolstered by the return of proceeds from full or partial divestments of companies, large and small, from SingTel to CPG Corp.

GOVERNMENT AS SHAREHOLDER

IN TERMS of our relationship with the Government as our shareholder, I would like to note two points.

First, Temasek holds and manages its investments for the long-term benefit of Singapore, as distinct from the Singapore Government per se. To use a corporate analogy, we could regard the government of the day as a shareholder representative, which is chosen at every election. The ultimate shareholders of Temasek are the past, present and future generations of Singapore. This analogy is consistent with Temasek's position as one of the three Fifth Schedule companies under the constitutional provisions for the Elected President.

Appointments to the board or CEO positions of a Fifth Schedule company or statutory board are subject to the approval of the Elected President. The implication is that the Temasek board and CEO have a responsibility to safeguard the value and assets of the company against profligate or value-destroying government directives. In other words, we have a responsibility to preserve and create value not just for the present generation but also the future generations of Singapore.

Second, the addendum to the Temasek charter outlined examples of companies or businesses, which the Government deems to need ownership or control of, for specific policy or strategic reasons. For these companies, Temasek will continue its traditional role as a responsible steward to ensure sound management and financial discipline.

Beyond these, Temasek will act to enhance long-term value, and will not divest for divestment's sake. We don't intend to raid the larder, nor sell the family jewels. We will jealously guard our interest, and invest, rationalise, consolidate or divest where it makes sense, and where we can achieve clear sustainable value.

To this end, we will look to institutionalise a framework for ourselves to maintain discipline and deliver value. Apart from the transformation that we have gone through over the last five years, I am pleased to note that we have recently obtained board approval and shareholder endorsement for a credit rating of Temasek. We hope to do this some time this year or next. This will be part of a measured process of opening up and demystifying Temasek. More importantly, such changes will help reinforce and sustain focus and financial discipline.

ACTIVE SHAREHOLDER

LIKE the Government, Temasek does not believe in getting involved in the operational decisions of its investee companies. We believe the best way for Temasek to add value to our companies is to ensure that we constitute high-quality, commercially experienced and diverse boards to complement outstanding business leadership and dedicated staff.

In our minds, outstanding leadership is not simply consistency and discipline in operational delivery, but also a passion and commitment to people inside and outside the company, in particular, their staff and the customers of the company. In short, we believe in finding the best people to lead, and in getting ourselves out of the way of honest, capable and competent people.

However, where there is a need, we have not hesitated to engage the boards and management as active shareholders to ensure that we preserve value and create a sustainable position for our companies. Other than that, we limit ourselves to the issues of value systems, business focus, human capital, sustainable growth and strategic development.

In general, we are, and have been, very fortunate to have active board members who take their responsibilities seriously, some at considerable personal sacrifice. Several have been contributing and acting with deep commitment, no different than if they had economic ownership of their companies. To these chairmen and board directors, we owe a great debt of gratitude and thanks for the success of our companies.

Just as a small example of what Mr S. Dhanabalan (Temasek chairman) would describe as promoting good governance, we have made known our expectations to the boards of our key companies that they should actively review the performance of their CEOs through executive sessions without the presence of management.

Such sessions should also regularly review succession options from internal and external sources for the immediate, medium and longer term. Such processes formalise the framework for building professionalism and meritocracy in business leadership and management. It enables the board to work openly and proactively with its management to put in place a robust and deep bench of talents from around the world.

In terms of the process for CEO succession, our participation extends to searching for names and possibilities to add to the search pool. The boards themselves constitute their search committees, define the selection criteria, and make the CEO choice themselves. We will clear the underbrush if needed, to ensure that the boards can exercise this single most important responsibility with full authority and clarity.

Our focus on board governance is not an end in itself, but one of the means to ensure that there is sustainable future.

As mentioned earlier, our Temasek-linked companies (TLCs) have grown and prospered because the Government took care not to get involved in the operational or commercial decisions of its companies. Many companies around the world, whether family- or government-owned, have failed because there is no separation between ownership and management responsibilities.

For example, unlike most national airlines in the world, SIA does not go to Temasek, much less the Government, on commercial decisions such as the aircraft it buys or the routes it flies. True, the Government contributed to SIA's success as a sound regulator, and as chief negotiator for bilateral air rights. However, it is totally at SIA's discretion whether particular routes make commercial sense for SIA from a short- or long-term business perspective. As Mr J.Y. Pillay, former chairman of SIA, likes to explain modestly, his key contribution to SIA's success was to keep the Government out of SIA's business.

Perhaps benign neglect is a good strategy for all governments when it comes to their direct involvement in companies and businesses. But really, the success story of so many of our TLCs is really the story of a dedicated and capable people, of bold men and women and visionary leadership, past and present, coupled with the trust and delivery of honest dedicated staff at all levels. It is a story very much like the story of Singapore itself. The integrity, commitment, competence and hunger to achieve and build for our children have driven our people to create very good companies on the back of Singapore's success. From the pilots who fly, to the quay crane operators who move container boxes, from the engineer working on his computer screen to the accountant working her numbers late into the night, from CEO to tea lady, they have not just put in their sweat capital, but also their emotional capital to build great companies.

Clearly, as shareholders, we owe these fine men and women our thanks. However, as fund managers will qualify in their promotional materials, past success is no guarantee for future gains. The world is changing. Singapore is part of an increasingly open and highly competitive world. There is no way we can isolate or insulate ourselves from the tidal shifts of globalisation. Our businesses need to ask themselves what they hope to be when they grow up. If they think they have already grown up, they will need to figure out how to stay young and fit, to take on newcomers or to move into the next league championship. As leaders, we need to ask of ourselves, our people and our businesses: 'Where can we make a difference?', and 'Where can we achieve sustainable advantage and turn that into sustainable value?'

This transformation will not be easy. It will take hearts and minds, as well as guts and hands, to think, to act and to drive change. Companies in Asia are already rapidly transforming, in all aspects, from efficient operations to sleek designs. A top resort playground of American movie stars was surprised to find not just highly competitive linen and silverware from India, but also really world-class standards in terms of quality, delivery and designs. A top American IT company is putting a Chinese company on its radar screen as the competitor to watch. Companies which believe in their own hype are lulled by false confidence and will be swamped by the rising tide.

Even as Temasek continues to make its own investments in promising companies and businesses, we will continue to work and learn with our existing TLCs to challenge ourselves and to transform, to think and to partner, to create and to stretch, in order to give ourselves the best chance for long-term success. But from time to time, don't be surprised if Temasek invests in an emerging competitor, or makes its own judgment, which may differ from those of our TLCs.

ACTIVE INVESTOR

A COMMON theme that cuts across all boundaries will be our interest in companies and businesses with competitive strengths and potential to grow regionally or globally. First, at the macro level, we are bullish about the medium- to long-term prospects for Asia. While the 1997 financial crisis has severely set back many of the Asian economies, the macro indicators point to a steady recovery.

Not only are foreign reserves at record highs from Pakistan to China, from Thailand to Indonesia, inflation and interest rates have come down sharply. Companies within many of these economies, from India to South Korea, have not only restructured but have also dramatically transformed themselves into internationally competitive players, adopting and adapting best practices such as lean manufacturing or fast quarterly closing of their financial numbers. They are not just pushing the envelope against domestic competitors, but also taking on international leaders.

This learning takes place constantly, across industries and geographies. As an example, the staff of a leading private bank in India, ICICI, has an average age of below 30 years, and it hires service quality managers from the airline industry to develop and sustain a strong service culture among its branches and staff.

Second, with the recovery and growth in Asia, comes the rise of the middle class, and the emergence of consumer sophistication. This will be a common engine of growth across Asia.

Third, there is a shared view among most governments and populations, that market economies and free trade bring benefits. While still sporadic in some countries, the heavyweights like China and India are pushing ahead with liberalisation, restructuring and reform. There is no turning back.

In the short term, we will still need to watch the impact of the US, while Europe and Japan continue their gradual revitalisation. But in general, we see broad-based recovery and growth in Asia, with increasing demands in the consumer sector and also in supporting sectors such as energy and resources.

In such a scenario, we believe there is an opportunity to invest in the services such as the banking and finance sector as a leveraged proxy to ride on the broad recovery of the respective economies. The other services of interest would be telecommunications, health care and education, which ride on the emergence of the middle class.

Each investment we make must stand on its own merits, including our existing portfolio of TLCs. We are fully open to diluting our stakes in our existing TLCs to minority positions, especially if it creates an opportunity for us to enhance our long-term returns. Likewise, we are happy to take both minority or majority stakes in promising companies with international potential in the sectors of our interest.

Just as many of our TLCs have grown offshore with a large part of income and profits now derived from offshore operations and investments, the Temasek portfolio will in time reflect our presence and interest in Asia and further afield. This portfolio in turn will reflect the dynamism and vibrancy of Asia as a whole.

In short, we will work to transform our portfolio from a proxy for the Singapore gross domestic product, into a balanced gross national product portfolio leveraging on the growth and promise of Singapore, Asean, Asia and the world.

high speed information flow....anyone?:)

VSNL cable to land at Asia Netcom site in Singapore

REUTERS[ THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2004 08:55:46 AM ]
HONG KONG: Telecoms services carrier Asia Netcom said on Thursday it will provide the landing site in Singapore for an undersea cable being built from India by Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL), the leading provider of overseas calls services.


The 3,175-km Tata Indicom India-Singapore cable will run from the southern Indian city of Chennai to Singapore, and will be ready for service by the fourth quarter, the companies said.

The cable, first announced in November, would have an initial capacity of 320 Gbps, with the ability to scale up to its design capacity of 5.12 Tbps. It would have an estimated lifespan of 25 years.

The deal would provide direct access to the fast-growing India market for Asia Netcom, which was assembled from the assets of the former Asia Global Crossing and is now the main international asset of China's No 2 fixed-line carrier China Netcom.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/505265.cms

I heard that Global Crossing was bought over by a Singaporean company.....Asia Global Crossing was bought be the Chinese one??

Originally posted by huaiwei

I heard that Global Crossing was bought over by a Singaporean company.....Asia Global Crossing was bought be the Chinese one??

hm i am not sure..i know that Singapore Technologies Telemedia Ltd has (had?) a share in Asia Global Crossing

Originally posted by drwho

The 3,175-km Tata Indicom India-Singapore cable will run from the southern Indian city of Chennai to Singapore, and will be ready for service by the fourth quarter, the companies said.


cool cool!

whats the difference between Global Crossing & Asia Global Crossing?

I remember reading that the purchase of Global Crossing was quite controversial:eek:

Originally posted by RafflesCity

cool cool!

whats the difference between Global Crossing & Asia Global Crossing?

I remember reading that the purchase of Global Crossing was quite controversial:eek:

According to this article, Asia Global Crossing is owned by Singapore Tech and Hutchison.

Global Crossing was a victim of a financial scandal and neded 750$ million on bailout.

here is the article:
http://www.internetnews.com/infra/article.php/10693_962491


:)

Hmm...icic....so we shall see yet another submarine link to India! :D

Originally posted by huaiwei

Hmm...icic....so we shall see yet another submarine link to India! :D

yeap:)

I guess the crisis in the telecom sector is over. so get ready for a new wave of optical cables in asia! :) :guns1:

Office rents in suburbs set to dip

By Woon Tai Keat

GET set for lower rents for office space in suburban areas. The Housing Board (HDB) is putting a huge amount of space at its HDB Hub in Toa Payoh on the rental market from Monday. About 160,000 sq ft is up for lease.

Even more space - 200,000 sq ft - was originally up for grabs but 40,000 sq ft has already been snapped up by budget airline ValueAir, property agent Propnex and some law firms. The space is from the top 20 storeys of the 28-storey East Wing of the HDB Hub. HDB Corp, the corporatised arm of the HDB, vacated about 200,000 sq ft of space in the tower when it moved to Bukit Merah in December.

The release of this amount of office space into the market is expected to bring rentals of office space, especially in suburban areas, down to a more competitive level, said property agent Knight Frank yesterday. At the moment, the asking rental for office space in HDB Hub starts from $3.50 per sq ft (psf) upwards, said Knight Frank.

Comparable surburban areas such as Novena, are going for $3.50 psf to $4 psf. 'Good-class' office space in the Raffles Place area has a going rate of between $4.50 psf and $5 per sq ft. Knight Frank did not give a price figure on how much it expects suburban rents to fall by.

ValueAir is taking up one storey of the West Wing, or 10,000 sq ft of space, and Propnex will have two storeys, or 20,000 sq ft, said Ms Agnes Tay, associate director of Knight Frank's office department, which is the project's marketing agent. The HDB Hub also has a 33-storey West Wing, which houses the operations of the HDB.

In addition to the confirmed tenants for the space in the East Wing, Ms Tay said that Knight Frank is in negotiations with other potential tenants. Because of its proximity to the headquarters of HDB, and the vast number of people in the area, the HDB Hub is a popular location for property agencies, law firms, and private commercial schools to set up their offices.

Temasek opens up

AT LONG last, Temasek Holdings has lifted, if only partly, the veil of secrecy over its extensive operations. For the first time, the Government's investment vehicle on Thursday disclosed it earned an average annual return of more than 16 per cent in the past three decades. For the past 10 years, Temasek had a dividend yield of 7 per cent annually. These are respectable returns. Cash-rich Temasek also plans to do what it had never done before: borrow in the financial markets to make its capital work better. For this, it will have to open its books to an external ratings agency to get a credit rating. With these moves, Temasek Holdings' executive director Ho Ching takes the road towards more transparency. This the market likes. To be sure, there will not be full disclosure on every Temasek venture, as this could be foolhardy in a fiercely competitive business environment. But the intent is clear. All this, she said, was 'part of a measured process of opening up and demystifying Temasek'.

The exciting development is Temasek's next venture into new territory by issuing 25- to 30-year bonds this year or next, to improve its capital structure. Borrowing in the financial markets to raise capital efficiency with investments for higher returns is something Temasek has never tried before. To be sure, taking this road will entail more risks. But Temasek is nothing if not a risk-taker. The move marks a certain maturity as it turns 30 years old in June. Indeed, Temasek is putting money where its mouth is. It has always emphasised to its affiliated companies on the need to be more focused in the way they deploy capital to create value. Take Temasek-linked SingTel's overseas ventures. Its third-quarter net profit, which rose to $854 million, surpassed market expectations. Its Australian unit Optus and other ventures abroad had contributed hugely to its sterling performance. This underlines the fact that SingTel's overseas ventures more than offset the weakness in its domestic operations. This is why Temasek has to look beyond Singapore for its future ventures.

Temasek is bullish on Asia's growth potential and it will be investing more outside Singapore, particularly in promising Asian companies. Betting on Asia makes business sense. Despite the ups and downs, the growth prospects of Asian countries look good with their strong foreign reserves and growing middle-class affluence. Many countries, particularly China and India, are driven into reform and liberalisation. All this will help to fuel Asian growth. Temasek wants to ride on this wave by placing bets on dynamic Asian companies with growth potential. Indeed, Temasek has since last year been taking up stakes in Indonesian and Indian banks. As it evolves, it will have to take the long view to safeguard the value and assets of its affiliates. The nature of the investments necessitates this. Its basic business approach remains unchanged. Government-owned companies will continue to operate purely as commercial enterprises. But as Singapore enters a new phase of its economic development to meet growing global competition, it has to find new ways of doing things. What is reassuring is the confidence that buoys Temasek, as it moves on to keep pace with a fast-changing world economy that will become more competitive than ever before. Infused with sound management principles and kept sharply focused, Temasek should do well as it ventures into new territory. Singaporeans expect no less from the trusty manager of their hard-earned assets.

Originally posted by drwho

According to this article, Asia Global Crossing is owned by Singapore Tech and Hutchison.

Global Crossing was a victim of a financial scandal and neded 750$ million on bailout.

here is the article:
http://www.internetnews.com/infra/article.php/10693_962491


:)

Thanks for the article drwho:)

20 Feb 2004

THOMSON Prometric, an international company which supervises computer-based tests such as the Graduate Management Admissions Test (Gmat), has moved its regional headquarters to Singapore from Kuala Lumpur.

Five staff have been relocated here from Malaysia and Australia with another three jobs - a financial analyst, a business development manager and general manager - created for local staff.

Company officials declined to disclose the size of the investment, but the move has been supported by the Economic Development Board (EDB), which is tasked with attracting business investment into Singapore with tax-breaks and other incentives.

In a statement issued yesterday, EDB managing director Ko Kheng Hwa said: 'Education is a big business and Thomson Prometric's presence will add breadth to the fast-growing international education services industry in Singapore.'

The Baltimore-based firm operates 31 test centres in Singapore, which form part of a network of 823 centres around the Asia-Pacific region.

Among the internationally recognised tests which the firm supervises is the GMAT - a key component of the selection requirements for nearly all Master of Business Administration courses around the world.

Another is the Test of English as a Foreign Language (Toefl), which many non-native English speakers have to take before gaining entry into university courses in countries where classes are taught in English.

In the statement, Thomson Prometric president Michael Brannick said: 'This location provides access to business partners and companies needing Thomson Prometric's technology-based assessment.'

Volume production to start from the middle of the year

20 Feb 2004

(SINGAPORE) The world's largest disk drive maker will make the latest 2.5-inch hard disk drives in Singapore for global consumption.

California-based Seagate Technology will make its cutting-edge Savvio hard disk drives - the first based on a new global standard - at its one million sq ft facility in Ang Mo Kio.

'The drives were designed at our enterprise R&D facility in Minneapolis and will go into volume production in Singapore from mid-2004,' the company's Singapore-based vice-president and managing director for Asia sales, Teh Ban Seng, told BT.

'The 2.5-inch drives represent the first technology breakthrough since 3.5-inch drives were launched more than a decade ago.'

Singapore is Seagate's key manufacturing hub and now makes all of its enterprise and mobile storage products. About 70 per cent of Seagate's record shipment of 21.7 million hard drives were made in Singapore and China for its fiscal Q2 ended Jan 2, 2004.

The company employs 9,000 staff in Singapore, out of 42,000 worldwide.

Seagate is ramping up its production facility to make the new drives and plans to get the world's top dozen computer server manufacturers to include the drives in their servers.

'The drives will come in two capacities - 36 gigabytes and 73 gigabytes,' said Michael Green, Seagate's US-based senior manager for global channel marketing for enterprise storage. 'They will consume 40 per cent less power, occupy 70 per cent less space, and generate considerably less heat than the current 3.5-inch drives. Users can fit in 30 Savvio drives in standard storage racks - compared to just 14 of the current 3.5-inch drives.'

Mr Teh said Seagate will determine Savvio pricing by April. The current 3.5-inch drives cost about US$150 each for 36 gigabytes of storage capacity.

The Savvio drives will debut in computer servers in Q4 this year and will run on a new global standard called SAS, of which Seagate is a founding member.

SAS stands for Serial Attached SCSI (Small Computer System Interface, an official industry standard that has been around for 12 years). SAS offers a data transfer rate of 3 gigabits per second, double the rate of existing high-end drives, and is endorsed by top industry players like Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Adaptec, Maxtor, Dell, Fujitsu, Hitachi, LSI Logic, Agere Systems, IBM, Western Digital, and Texas Instruments.

Seagate is launching the new drives just as the hard disk industry is rebounding after a dismal showing in 2001 and 2002.

'The industry bounced back with a record 260 million drives (for enterprises) being shipped last year,' said Graham Penn, director of storage research at IDC Asia-Pacific. 'We expect the sector to grow 10.7 per cent a year to cross 350 million enterprise drives by 2007.'

Last year, companies in Asia-Pacific (ex-Japan) spent US$4 billion to beef up their storage capacities. Any pick-up in the data storage segment should benefit Singapore given that it makes 35 per cent of the world's hard disk drives and that roughly half of Singapore's overall semiconductor consumption worth US$3.3 billion goes into hard disk manufacture.

Singapore's data storage market is worth US$100 million a year and accounts for about 5 per cent of the US$1.8 billion in annual storage revenues in the region, excluding Japan.

Seagate reported US$1.76 billion in revenue - up 1.73 per cent year-on-year - for its fiscal second quarter ended Jan 2. Net income came to US$205 million, up 3.53 per cent.

Singapore sees itself as India’s trading hub

Economy Bureau in New Delhi
Published : February 19, 2004

Singapore today expressed its desire to be the main trading hub for India in the same way as Hong Kong was for China for its trade with Southeast Asia.

“The analogy of Singapore becoming for India what Hong Kong is to China is very relevant and we are working through the CECA (Comprehensive Economic Co-operation Agreement) on the modalities to achieve it,” the visiting trade and industry minister of Singapore, George Yeo, said at a function organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry here today.

During the last financial year, trade between India and Singapore was at $ 2.86 billion, with India’s exports pegged at $ 1.42 billion.

Yeo said the contentious issue of rules of origin in the proposed CECA—which would be a free trade agreement encompassing goods and services— between the two countries would soon be sorted out.

“Negotiations are in the final stages and the free trade agreement would be implemented by the middle of this year,” Yeo said.

Stressing that financial services, education, tourism and healthcare offered strong commonality of trade interests, the Singapore minister said India should improve flight connectivity and infrastructure facilities.

At present, only 150 flights were operational between the two countries, he said adding flight connectivity needed to be strengthened to give a fillip to tourism, especially in the Buddhist circuit.

Yeo said he had asked the Indian government to tap the enormous potential in the religious tourism space.

http://www.business-standard.com/today/story.asp?Menu=19&story=34706

Nice article drwho!

Actually of the many countries east of India, I can say Singapore is very suitable as a hub for extension of India's activities. It has a local Indian population (with many India nationals here working/studying), and a common language of British English.
:cool:

21 Feb 2004

Taiwan-based chip tester aims to double capacity here to keep up with demand, and will add another 100 jobs this year

By Bryan Lee

IN A new fillip for the local semiconductor industry, world No. 1 chip testing and packing company Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) plans to invest at least US$30 million to US$40 million (S$50.8 million to S$67.7 million) this year to double its capacity in Singapore.

The Taiwan-based company has already doubled its staff strength here to 200 in the past three months and is looking to add another 100 jobs this year.

In an interview with The Straits Times yesterday, Singapore general manager Lee Kwai Mun said that since the second half of last year, the company has been running at full capacity.

'We are ramping up our operations here to keep up with demand,' he said.

'Singapore remains a key location for the group because it is an important semiconductor cluster in the region. We are in close proximity to major semiconductor companies and this will facilitate engineering activities between ASE and our customers.'

ASE's expansion is the latest in a series announced by semiconductor companies here and globally.

Since the second half of last year, a sharp turnaround in the global chip industry has left industry players scrambling to keep up with surging demand for chips.

Last month, Singapore-based chipmaker Systems on Silicon Manufacturing announced a US$250-million expansion of its manufacturing facility here, with another US$150 million of investments in the pipeline.

And just last week, homegrown rival ST Assembly Test Services (Stats) made a US$1.6-billion acquisition of United States-based ChipPAC in an aggressive move to join the league of chip testing and packaging firms with revenues of at least US$1 billion.

ASE, one of the three largest independent chip testers here, will invest mostly in chip testers which can cost between US$2 million and US$3 million each.

It is also seeking to expand its production floor space to 100,000 sq ft, from 40,000 sq ft, to accommodate the new testers. This could see the company either renting more space at its existing location or relocating to a new factory altogether.

It recently took up an additional 10,000 sq ft of factory space at Chai Chee Technopark, but this is already almost fully utilised.

ASE's Singapore operations currently undertake only wafer and chip testing, specialising in radio frequency and mixed signal chips used in communications devices such as cellphones.

Mr Lee said there were no plans at present for the local unit to expand into chip packaging activities, which generally have lower profit margins.

For customers who wanted turnkey test and packaging solutions, ASE's Singapore subsidiary could still provide those using its parent's chip packaging plants in Taiwan and other parts of Asia, he said.

Mr Lee said this year would be a strong one for the semiconductor industry. Apart from consumers continuing to drive demand, he reckoned that corporations, having enjoyed better profits, were starting to upgrade their servers and computers again after a lull in spending in the past two years.

ASE's Singapore unit started as a subsidiary of US-based International Semiconductor Engineering (ISE) Labs in 1998.

It became a subsidiary of ASE a year later when the Taiwanese chip testing giant bought over its US rival.

The Singapore subsidiary changed its name to ASE Singapore from ISE Labs Singapore four months ago to reflect a greater integration of the local unit with the operations of its Taiwan parent.

Originally posted by RafflesCity

Nice article drwho!

Actually of the many countries east of India, I can say Singapore is very suitable as a hub for extension of India's activities. It has a local Indian population (with many India nationals here working/studying), and a common language of British English.
:cool:

yeap Singapore would be the best country to have a export/import-hub ,just as like you said. One reason is the local indian community and reason no 2 is that Singapore has the best infrastructure that suits India. That means goods and services can flow freely from India without any hassle,India <-->Singapore <---> US :) :)

Hmm.....Singapore serving such a major market like India? Now, maybe, but I am not so sure into the long future! :D

Well we got to move fast to secure the most optimal contacts and businesses. And I believe we have a lead over the region with India! Who knows the many FTA we have with numerous countries may also make us more attractive as a hub.

Yeah....I suppose the use of FTAs will be our best way to establish global links? ;)

well the latest is a FTA with Panama?:)

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_575804,00020008.htm

Wow.....the Indian press pubished about our FTAs too?? :colgate:

Originally posted by huaiwei

Wow.....the Indian press pubished about our FTAs too?? :colgate:

besides Bollywood-movienews..it is alot of Singapore-FTA in the press yes:)

Maybe its done to encourage the Indian govt to do something like this too? ;)

Originally posted by huaiwei

Maybe its done to encourage the Indian govt to do something like this too? ;)

i guess so...media is power:)
Since the 1991 liberalisation of the indian economy,the media in India is more market liberal than before :)

the latest row is that FM said that India might achieve 9% GDP growth in 2004 if the moonson-rain is good. After that anouncement the media went crazy :)

Not another one...

S'pore-Jordan free trade pact to be ready by July

By Lydia Lim

THE free trade agreement (FTA) being negotiated between Singapore and Jordan is on course to be ready by July, putting the Republic on track to become the first South-east Asian nation to have such a pact with a Middle-Eastern state.

Visiting Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and his Jordanian counterpart Faisal Al-Fayez were satisfied that negotiations were making 'good progress'. Their review of the pact and other issues came at a meeting here on Saturday, shortly after Mr Goh arrived in the Jordanian capital from Egypt for a three-day visit.

Mr Goh, who has been making trade links one of the features of his 10-day swing through the region, has already secured Egypt's agreement to start talks on an FTA. Bahrain, the next stop on his tour, will hold a first round of FTA talks with Singapore this month.

Mr Goh's meetings here yesterday - including a lunch with King Abdullah II - were equally fruitful in boosting ties as both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in tourism, museum exchanges and technical assistance programmes.

At a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Halaiqa, Mr Goh invited Jordan to send a study team to Singapore to explore ways to expand technical cooperation. Mr Halaiqa had expressed interest in learning from Singapore's development experience, especially in the areas of government administration, port management and information technology. About 60 Jordanian officials have already attended training courses in Singapore in areas like civil aviation and tourism.

Mr Goh also suggested that Jordan send a business delegation to promote the country to investors in Singapore and the region. He offered the Government's support in organising an investment seminar. Given its political stability and location, observers here say Jordan can be a regional headquarters for firms keen on securing a share of the business being generated by the reconstruction efforts in Iraq.

Singapore and Jordan yesterday also signed two memorandums of understanding on cultural and museum cooperation, a move welcomed by Tourism and Environment Minister Alia Hatough- Bouran. The MOU on cultural cooperation paves the way for the exchange of museum curators and exhibits.

Jordan sees the move to cooperate on tourism as the first step to attracting more Singaporean visitors. The sector, which used to make up 11 per cent of Jordan's gross domestic product, took a hit in recent years due to regional instability, including events such as the Iraq war.

Mrs Hatough-Bouran estimates that Singaporeans account for only about 2,000 of the 1.3 million visitors here each year. She plans to invite Singapore travel agents and journalists to come and see the 'wealth and diversity' of attractions here. She will also lead a team of travel agents to the Republic to deliver her message.

With all FTAs,..i wonder what the rioting anti-globalization movement thinks about Asia as the most FTA-friendly contintent:):)

Originally posted by drwho

With all FTAs,..i wonder what the rioting anti-globalization movement thinks about Asia as the most FTA-friendly contintent:):) I remember when the most recent round of talks in the WTO failed again, the Singapore authorities issued a formal statement which says that "they will go all out down the FTA path, which is far more viable then those negotiations!"

Originally posted by huaiwei

I remember when the most recent round of talks in the WTO failed again, the Singapore authorities issued a formal statement which says that "they will go all out down the FTA path, which is far more viable then those negotiations!"

well i guess thats true. WTO has problems and i wonder if US/EU ever will break down their barriers.

It plans a 'supermarket' for between 20 and 50 such instruments in S'pore within the next two to three months

23 Feb 2004

By Azhar Khalid

SPURRED by the recent success of covered warrants, Germany's Deutsche Bank plans to launch a 'supermarket' for such instruments in Singapore in about four to six weeks' time.

The bank said Singapore will be one of the three markets where it will unveil the one-of-its-kind concept, apart from Hong Kong and Italy.

Deutsche Bank, which first unveiled the 'supermarket' concept for these instruments in Germany four years ago, plans to offer between 20 and 50 covered warrants in Singapore within the next two to three months.

Covered warrants, or structured warrants as they are sometimes known, give their holders the right but not the obligation to buy or sell an underlying security on or before a specified date and at a pre-determined price.

They differ from company warrants because a third party, known as the issuer, guarantees or 'covers' settlement if exercised.

Covered warrants issued recently in the Singapore market have been a runaway success, generating much investor interest. In the past three months alone, as many as three issuers have floated 11 covered warrants.

The recent covered warrants floated were on companies such as Singapore Airlines, Singapore Press Holdings, OCBC Bank and United Overseas Bank.

Since it set up X-Markets four years ago, Deutsche Bank has gone on to become the largest issuer of covered warrants in Germany.

It has also managed to increase its market share to 34 per cent by the end of last year from about 5 per cent in 2000.

Currently, it has 3,945 warrants issued and trading in the German market.

But unlike X-Markets, which also offers exotic instruments such as equity-linked notes, knock-out warrants and index-tracker certificates, the 'supermarket' in Singapore will initially offer 'simple plain-vanilla warrants like calls and puts on single stocks and indexes', Deutsche Bank's vice-president of global equity derivatives, Mr Thorsten Michalik, told The Straits Times.

'With call warrants, investors can participate on bullish markets and with puts on declining ones,' he said.

Asked why the bank chose Singapore as one of the markets, he said that 'Hong Kong and Singapore will be our core markets for the warrants listing in Asia'.

He added: 'The listing rules of both exchanges allow a fast and easy listing of warrants, and the latest turnover for warrants in Hong Kong and Singapore also showed us that there is an appetite on the retail investors' side for warrants.'

He believes the 'supermarket' will enable investors to obtain fair and comprehensive price spreads.

It will also ensure high liquidity, which will help investors to get in and out of the market with ease.

Mr Michalik contends that there are other advantages as well. When a covered warrant is issued, in most cases, an issuer has a view on the underlying share movement.

This may work in favour or against the investor as his choices may be limited.

'The 'supermarket' idea is that a issuer should only provide the warrants for investors and have no view about the potential of the underlying,' he said.

'The investor himself or together with his broker should then decide what to buy and Deutsche Bank will offer a lot of different warrants to choose from.'

In the run-up to the Singapore launch, the bank is developing market infrastructure, which includes the installation of a trading and distribution computer platform that has been designed specially for covered warrants.

This system, known as Xavex Online, is already functioning in Germany and executes about 10,000 trades a day on just covered warrants alone.

Registered late last year, it has set a modest target of enrolling 150 individuals and 15 companies as members for the first year

23 Feb 2004

By Narendra Aggarwal

SENIOR Indian business executives and professionals have banded together to launch a club that will, among other things, seek to ease entry of Indian firms into Singapore and the region.

India Club, registered with the Registry of Societies late last year, has set a primary charter of enhancing economic and political ties between the two nations.

'India has been pursuing with considerable success calibrated globalisation since the end of the Cold War. The government is now encouraging businesses to expand their links abroad,' club president Mukul Asher said in an interview.

Citing an example of how Indian businesses were becoming increasingly open to globalisation, he said government-owned Indian Oil Corporation is planning to list its Sri Lankan operations on the Colombo bourse.

The club will also address perception gaps between the two economies. While several studies have sought to address perception gaps about India, this grouping will go a step further.

'There is an information and perception gap about Singapore in India, too. We hope to play a role in trying to address them,' Professor Asher, who is on the faculty of the National University of Singapore, said.

'There is a strong feeling that information and perception gaps in Singapore and the region about India represent a major constraint in making more rapid progress towards deeper economic and political engagement between India on the one hand and Singapore and the region on the other,' he added.

He said that the time was just ripe for the formation of the club. 'Indian professionals have been successfully operating globally for quite some time. India's transformation has been rapid, and this is likely to accelerate.'

According to the Economic Development Board, 1,500 Indian firms are registered here, with the number growing every year.

Club secretary, Mr P. K. Basu, who is the managing director of Robust Economic Analysis, said that a modest target of enrolling 150 individuals and 15 companies as members had been set for the first year.

While corporate membership is open to India-registered companies, individual membership is for those with Indian passports.

People of Indian origin, including Singaporeans, are eligible for associate membership. Graduate student membership is also available to full-time students holding Indian passports.

Mr Basu said that with the expected finalisation of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (Ceca) by the middle of the year, India Club would work towards helping companies in Singapore and India benefit from it. Ceca is an enlarged free trade agreement that Singapore and India are in the final stages of negotiating.

The club has begun to make its presence felt. It held a seminar on the interim Indian budget and recent policy changes in the country at the Ritz-Carlton hotel last week. About 50 people attended the seminar.

A bigger forum is planned on the new Indian budget to be tabled after the new government takes over some time in May following the upcoming general elections, Prof Asher said.

It is nice to see that indian buisness money is flowing into Singapore :)

:)

Originally posted by drwho

It is nice to see that indian buisness money is flowing into Singapore :)

:) There is so much of India in the news nowadays!! Just today, there was a report on the news discussing about meeting the needs and desires of Indian tourists! ;)

December shopping a bonanza for S'pore retailers

They enjoyed a $425m hike in sales that month - a 20% jump over November - and have high hopes boom will continue

By Glenys Sim

RETAILERS smiled all the way to the bank last December, as the year-end rush by shoppers to beat the rise in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) helped lift sales by $425 million in one month. Adding to the bonanza was the Christmas shopping.

The twin forces sent sales soaring to nearly $2.5 billion in December, an increase of 20.6 per cent against the previous month, according to figures from the Statistics Department yesterday. The monthly change was the greatest measured during the year, when Sars and the Iraq war dealt heavy blows to the industry.

Retailers such as department stores, food and beverage outlets, and shops selling furniture, household equipment, watches and jewellery reported increases of between 22 and 48 per cent, said the Statistics Department.

When contacted, retailers declined to disclose their actual takings, but most said they were good. Isetan department store said December was its best month in the year, with 'slightly better' sales. It hopes to achieve a strong single-digit growth this year, reversing the 6.25 per cent decline in last year's turnover of $243.9 million, said sales and promotions manager Gerard Goh.

Courts Singapore, which sells electrical appliances and furniture, described its December sales as 'very healthy', lifted mainly by the sale of plasma TVs and laptops. Added managing director Terry O'Connor: 'We sold, for example, four times more plasma TVs, which cost between $5,999 and $15,000, than we did in November.'

The boom in December for the retail industry was the fourth straight monthly increase. It was also better than the $2.37-billion sales reported in the same month in 2002, a jump of 9.7 per cent. The December rise helped to lift retail sales for the whole year by 8.2 per cent, said the Statistics Department, without giving any figures on the volume of sales. Much of the annual increase was from the sale of motor vehicles, however.

Still, retailers such as Soo Kee Jewellery were happy, for the sales figures were better than they had expected after the Sars outbreak. Like many other retailers, the jewellery chain, with at least 23 outlets across the island, expects this year to shine even brighter. Business will grow by 15 per cent, forecasted its marketing manager, Ms Loh Jee Fang, adding that growth was marginal last year. The uptrend has started, she said, pointing out that its Valentine's Day promotion brought in 20 per cent more sales than the same period last year.

Sharing her optimistic outlook is the executive director of the Singapore Retailers Association, Miss Lau Chuen Wei. She said: 'The decline last year was not as big as it could have been. And if the current signs of recovery continue, it will be good news for everybody.'

Originally posted by huaiwei

There is so much of India in the news nowadays!! Just today, there was a report on the news discussing about meeting the needs and desires of Indian tourists! ;)

The rising affluence of India & China are really shaking up the region. The potential is enormous!

Originally posted by RafflesCity

The rising affluence of India & China are really shaking up the region. The potential is enormous! But i seem to get the impression that the world has yet to wake up to the fact that India is rising fast? But it can be to our advantage...whoever graps the pie first wins..i hope? :D

I hate starhub...maybe i shd plan to buy up all their IPOs and then sack their management? :D

StarHub seeks IPO proposals

- It sends request to ING, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, CSFB and UBS
- Listing could take place as early as in the second half and raise a whopping $700m

By Bryan Lee

SINGAPORE'S No. 2 telecommunications company, StarHub, has sent out requests to five investment banks to draw up proposals for handling an eagerly awaited initial public offering (IPO) that, if it proceeds, is likely to be the largest in Singapore this year.

Investment bank sources yesterday said that while StarHub had not spelt out the timing or IPO size, it could join rivals SingTel and M1 on the local bourse as early as the second half of this year with an IPO that could raise about $700 million.

Lending credence to rumours last week of the widely discussed listing, the sources said that StarHub was looking to appoint two foreign banks to handle its flotation as well as a local bank, touted to be DBS Bank, to handle local distribution.

The sources said that ING, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) and UBS Warburg have been invited to pitch their proposals by next week, with a beauty parade likely to be held at the end of the month.

In other recent mega-deals in the local telecommunications sector, UBS and ABN Amro were lead managers in M1's $762-million listing debut in 2002, while UBS and DBS handled SingPost's $684-million IPO last May.

Most recently, Merrill Lynch last month managed the $2.3-billion sale of SingTel stock and bonds by Temasek Holdings. When queried, StarHub spokesman Jeannie Ong said that the company had not yet started the listing process nor given a mandate to anyone.

'In the course of our business and operations over the years, we have been meeting bankers on a regular basis including the five banks that have been listed. Our plan remains unchanged. We have stated all along that we hope to list the company when the market conditions are appropriate.'

The move should come as good news for some of StarHub's major shareholders which have long been keen to exit the company via an IPO.

One of these is British Telecom which regards its 12-per-cent stake in StarHub as non-strategic. Other major shareholders include Japan's NTT Communications, Singapore Press Holdings and MediaCorp. Controlling shareholder Singapore Technologies Telemedia owns 50 per cent of the company.

StarHub sank into the red last year with a loss of $46 million from a profit of $103 million the previous year as payments from a government compensation plan ended.

But analysts reckon that the company is poised to return to profitability this year, 12 months ahead of its schedule. They pointed to StarHub's success in its mobile phone operations, which account for more than half of the company's total revenues.

Last year, StarHub enjoyed 36.7-per-cent growth in the number of cellphone subscribers and a 42.7-per-cent rise in mobile phone revenues. Its share of the local mobile phone market swelled to 25 per cent, from 20 per cent in 2002.

Still, analysts cautioned that StarHub was ultimately constrained by a local mobile phone market which is already more than 80 per cent saturated.

That, they said, might make the IPO a hard sell even at a time when investors were once again bullish about Asian telecommunications firms.

TNT Singapore targets four main growth areas

By Nicholas Fang

TNT Singapore, the local arm of the Dutch logistics giant, is targeting four main business sectors with strong growth potential in a bid to consolidate its position in the region, says its new managing director Edward Lau.

Mr Lau, who was appointed as managing director last week after a one-year stint as director of marketing and sales, told The Straits Times in an interview that TNT will focus its efforts on the high-tech sector, communications equipment, life sciences and precision tooling and automotive sectors.

In particular, he highlighted the company's Internet-based clinical trials network (CTN) service as offering high margins and many growth possibilities.

The service, launched in 2002, allows laboratories, investigators or doctors, and sponsors of clinical trials to arrange shipping of medical samples such as human blood and tissue, and to track these shipments through the Internet.

Mr Lau, 47, also said that the precision-tooling segment, which includes the provision of automotive parts, was important for TNT.

'Electronics will also remain important for us, given the considerable size of the industry in Singapore. That sector contributes around 30 to 35 per cent of our revenues, while clinical trials make up 10 per cent and precision tooling another 20 per cent.'

When asked if he agreed with recent comments from other logistics companies such as DHL that ground-handling charges were not competitive at Singapore's Changi Airport, Mr Lau said that he believed Changi had always tried to keep itself competitive.

'Changi is always watching what its competitors are doing. I won't say that Changi is not competitive, but I think the key thing for it to do now is to work to keep their position.'

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2004-02-17/M11_0217.jpg
To strengthen its presence, TNT will focus on areas with strong potential, says Mr Lau.

Originally posted by huaiwei

But i seem to get the impression that the world has yet to wake up to the fact that India is rising fast? But it can be to our advantage...whoever graps the pie first wins..i hope? :D

Well Singapore has to take the big pie first. that means..hurry hurry! ;)

The good thing is,not only is Singapore the best trading hub but also the best economic policy maker when the privatization & liberalisation process slows down in India.Singapore kickstarts the liberalisation process again :)

Singapore has a huge impact on liberalisation,just look at the FTA-negotiations between Singapore-India:) ;)


"They are conservative but we are still pushing and we remain hopeful." - George Yeo , Trade and Industry Minister

:)

Wah....kinda odd for a tiny city to be pushing others like this. Wont this breed resentment? I mean.....soimetimes its the way Singapore does things overseas that incurs the wrath of nations many times bigger, and who are keen to put us back into our rightful place! :D

Originally posted by huaiwei

Wah....kinda odd for a tiny city to be pushing others like this. Wont this breed resentment? I mean.....soimetimes its the way Singapore does things overseas that incurs the wrath of nations many times bigger, and who are keen to put us back into our rightful place! :D

It may not be politik to admit it, but its true. It has been happening since 1965;)

Yet at the same time, if we dont do anything, we also get accused of arrogance, aloofness, selfish and unneighbourly?! The ills of being small and "too rich"! :D

NOL completes exit from tanker business

By Nicholas Fang

NEPTUNE Orient Lines (NOL) has completed its exit from the tanker business by selling its product tanker and bunkering business, Neptune Associated Shipping (NAS), to a Hong Kong company for US$55.1 million (S$92.8 million).

NOL said in a statement yesterday that it had reached a conditional agreement to sell NAS to Titan Orient Lines (TOL), a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed oil services company Titan (Holdings). The sale, which is expected to be completed next month, will see the transfer of NOL's 100-per-cent equity stake in NAS to TOL.

NOL had signalled its intention to divest itself of NAS last year. This includes a 22-strong tanker fleet comprising three medium-range product tankers, nine coastal tankers and 10 harbour tankers with a total capacity of 205,000 deadweight tonnes, NOL said. NOL also said that two of the product tankers, which are currently chartered in by NAS, will be sold by the owners to TOL for US$48 million.

NOL group chief executive officer David Lim said that a book profit of about US$8 million would be realised from the sale, adding that the sale was an important strategic move for the group. He said: 'This sale completes NOL's exit from the tanker business which began with the sale of our crude oil transportation arm, American Eagle Tankers, last year. The divestment of NAS is another key step in our strategy to focus on, and build, our core capabilities in global transportation and logistics.'

The proceeds from the sale would be used to reduce debt and further strengthen the group's balance sheet, he added. NOL shares closed five cents higher at $2.08 yesterday with 13.1 million shares traded.

A corresponding version of the FTA from the local press. :D

S'pore to kick off free trade talks with Panama in April

By Audrey Tan

PANAMA may be better known to Singaporeans as the tropical paradise where the current Survivor: All-Stars is set, but the small Central American republic is also the latest economy to seek a free trade agreement (FTA) with Singapore. Singapore and Panama will start talks on an FTA in April and hope to conclude the agreement within a year, the two countries said yesterday.

The announcement was made after Panamanian Vice-President Arturo Vallarino and Minister of Commerce and Industry Joaquin Jacome Diez met Singapore's Trade and Industry Minister George Yeo in Singapore yesterday.

At a press conference after the meeting, Brig-Gen (NS) Yeo said an FTA will strengthen links between Panama and Singapore, which both serve as trading hubs for their respective regions. 'An FTA will make it easy for people from the Americas to access Asia through Singapore and vice versa.' The FTA will be comprehensive, covering services, goods and investment. 'But more importantly, it builds an important bridge across the Pacific,' BG Yeo added.

With its famous Panama Canal connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, Panama is a trading hub for the Caribbean, Central America and countries in the north of South America. Around 5 per cent of the world's trade passes through the Panama Canal, Mr Jacome said yesterday.

Panama is Singapore's 25th largest trading partner, and one of the five most active transhipment hubs in the world. Trade between Singapore and Panama grew by 6.9 per cent last year to $2 billion.

Besides promoting trade and investment flows, an FTA between Panama and Singapore will capitalise on the two countries' complementary strengths in the logistics, transport and maritime sectors, they said in a statement.

Besides trade, there are also investment opportunities for Singapore firms in Panama, said Mr Ter Yeow Ming, centre director of International Enterprise Singapore in Mexico. For example, the proposed expansion of the Panama Canal costing US$6 billion to US$8 billion (S$10.1 billion to S$13.5 billion) could create opportunities for Singapore companies in engineering, construction and maritime services, he said.

Panama is also designating special economic zones to promote economic activities such as logistics and light manufacturing, added Mr Ter.

The proposed FTA will be based on the United States-Singapore FTA (USSFTA), as Panama is also negotiating a pact with the US. Using the USSFTA as a template will simplify negotiation procedures considerably, said BG Yeo.

This FTA will be Singapore's first with a Central American country and Panama's first with a South-east Asian nation.

Well i guess it is time to lay all those optic cables before the Olympics game starts..imagine all that tele/data.traffic :)


SingTel ties up with Greek telcom

SINGAPORE: Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (SingTel) has tied up with Greek counterpart OTEGlobe to position itself for a share of the expected surge in telephone traffic during this year’s Olympics.

The tie-up with the wholly-owned unit of Greece’s leading telecoms company would focus mainly on new revenue generation and cost reduction as well as facilitate hubbing traffic exchanges between the two firms, SingTel said in a statement.

SingTel will use OTEGlobe’s network to connect international calls to Greece, the Balkans and Southern Europe.

OTEGlobe, for its part, will use the SingTel network to link calls to the Asia-Pacific region. – AFP

wow..that was fast of SingTel! :yes:

Fast? Isnt the Olympics this year? ;)

S'pore investments in US stocks plunge 47%

This pullback in the final quarter of last year to $23.9b means that the Republic is no longer the top Asian trader in US equities

By Colin Tan

SINGAPORE investors left Wall Street in droves last quarter, new United States Treasury data shows, as a weak greenback and roaring markets such as India and China made Asia a far more attractive investment centre. In fact, the Republic relinquished its place as the top Asian trader in US stocks in the final quarter of last year as equity transactions by Singaporeans plunged almost 47 per cent from the previous quarter to US$14.2 billion (S$23.9 billion).

This pullback was the sharpest plunge in more than a decade. The last time quarter-on-quarter US stock transactions fell more sharply was in the first quarter of 1992 when they nosedived 53.3 per cent. In absolute terms, Singaporean trades in US equities in the fourth quarter hit their lowest ebb in four years.

But this was not a one-off event as US share trades by Singaporean entities have been on a downtrend since the third quarter of last year when they fell a more modest 10.7 per cent. Three months ago, market players were already withdrawing profits from their US share investments and re-allocating the funds back into Asian equity markets, which had outperformed Wall Street.

And Singapore was not alone in losing interest in US shares. Transactions in the US for all of Asia sank 20.8 per cent in the final quarter of last year as well. Japan regained the pole position despite a 12-per-cent tumble in its level of transactions in US stocks to US$22.3 billion. Other Asian economies which also suffered a decline in US stock trades included Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines as trades sank by 5 per cent to 19 per cent.

For the full year, Asian transactions in US stocks sagged 10.3 per cent, with the share of the top two players - Japan and Singapore - both falling about 15 per cent. For the year, Japanese transactions tumbled 14.7 per cent to US$100.3 billion while Singaporean trades fell 15 per cent to US$69.2 billion.

Market strategists attributed three key reasons for the sharp decline in Singaporean interest in US shares:

- The falling greenback which exposes foreign investors to exchange rate losses;

- Foreign investors following their US counterparts' lead in looking elsewhere for more attractive returns as US markets near their previous peak; and

- The strong growth prospects - especially in China and India - attracting more investors.

They said the anaemic US dollar fell about 15 per cent on a trade-weighted basis last year and by about 20 per cent against the euro. A research director at a US brokerage said: 'Prospects of a weakening greenback have put investors on the defensive. 'No one wants to be exposed to the added risk of adverse currency movements.'

Kim Eng Securities research head Seah Hiang Hong said Asian investors probably found that share valuations on this side of the Pacific were cheaper and were more likely to outperform their Wall Street counterparts.

The olympics games is 13-29 August, 2004 :)

so singtels seacables will have alot of work to do. routing all asia-calls/data from Greece to Asia :)

26 Feb 2004

It moves up two notches from fourth spot, and ranks behind Ireland, which is the most global nation for the third year

By Narendra Aggarwal

DESPITE facing many economic challenges and a faltering global economy last year, Singapore jumped two places to become the second most globalised nation in the world.

The Republic moved up two notches from fourth place, and now ranks behind Ireland, which continues to hold the top place as the world's most global nation for the third year in a row.

Shaking off the effects of Sars and the economic downturn, Singapore was actually recovering some lost ground, as it had been ranked No. 1 in the inaugural globalisation index launched four year ago.

Malaysia, now ranked 20th, was the only other Asian country to make it to the global top 20 ranking in the just-released fourth annual AT Kearney and Foreign Policy magazine globalisation index.

United States-based AT Kearney, which also has offices in Singapore, is one of the world's largest management consulting firms.

The globalisation index measures economic, person-to-person, political and technological integration. In all, the rankings are based on 14 key variables and cover 62 countries, accounting for 96 per cent of the world's gross domestic product.

Significantly, Singapore came out tops in trade, followed by Malaysia in second place.

'Despite difficult economic conditions, Singapore topped the rankings in trade, with total exports and imports reaching 340 per cent of the country's total economic activity,' noted AT Kearney and Foreign Policy.

'Exports rebounded slightly after the drop-off from the previous two years, driven by a strong demand for electronic products, which accounted for about 60 per cent of Singapore's exports.

'The anticipated free trade agreement with the United States (eventually signed in 2003) helped to boost global confidence in the economy.'

Singapore also ranked as the index's most globally 'talkative' nation, with the average resident engaging in almost 13 hours of international calls in 2002.

Commenting on the overall findings, the authors said that 'this year's index shows that globalisation survived considerable challenges in 2002, the last year for which complete annual data is available'.

Economic integration dropped to the lowest levels since 1998, reflecting slow economic growth in many regions and the effects of heightened travel alerts, stringent new security at ports and airports, corporate scandals, financial market fallout from Argentina's economic unravelling, and jarring terrorist attacks in Indonesia and Kenya, the authors said.

However, non-economic drivers of global integration - from travel to telephone traffic - maintained their momentum, making the world more integrated at the end of 2002 than ever before, they added.

If economics and politics put the brakes on globalisation in 2002, Internet connections were among the most powerful accelerators.

Despite tough economic times, Internet use and access expanded rapidly.

More than 130 million new Internet users came online in 2002, bringing the total to more than 620 million, representing 9.9 per cent of the total world population, up from 8.1 per cent in the previous year.


See the chart here
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2004-02-26/global.PDF

Try being the Finance Minister

TINKER with taxes, cut or raise government expenditure, by playing the role of Singapore's Finance Minister online. But beware. The popular road of tax cuts will dent revenues. The tougher decision to raise taxes earns this computer-generated message: 'Good Job!'

The interactive 'If I Were The Finance Minister' feature is on the Finance Ministry's Budget 2004 website. Those interested in details of the Budget, which Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hsien Loong presents to Parliament on Feb 27, can register to have the speech e-mailed just after he delivers it.

At www.budget2004.gov.sg, click on 'Budget 2004: What You Can Do'. Follow instructions. 'If I Were The Finance Minister' is another option. Some scenarios and the messages generated:

Status quo. No change to taxes or government expenditure.

Result: 'Your budget is in deficit. You will be drawing down on the Government's current reserves. There are benefits in running a cyclical budget deficit in the coming fiscal year to support the expected economic recovery. But if you continue to have a consistent budget deficit exceeding the current term of Government, you will be drawing down on the reserves accumulated over previous years and ruin the economy.'

Cut income and corporate tax to 20 per cent, keep GST at 5 per cent, lower expenditure.

Result: Two thumbs down. 'You have increased the budget deficit! ...If you continue to have big budget deficits exceeding the current term of Government, you will keep drawing down on the reserves accumulated over previous years and this may cause the economy to collapse.'

Raise taxes to 23 per cent. Keep GST and expenditure unchanged.

Result: Three thumbs up. 'Good Job! You have managed to achieve a budget surplus. This will help cover previous years' deficit and build up reserves for rainy days.'

Hm....I will be interested in seeing the entire study! :colgate:

Singapore's GDP grew 11% in fourth quarter

Singapore on Thursday raised its economic outlook for this year after the economy expanded at a faster-than-expected rate in the fourth quarter on strong growth in the manufacturing and pharmaceutical sectors.

Gross domestic product rose an annualised 11 per cent quarter-on-quarter between October and December, exceeding estimates of 7.9 per cent, the Ministry of Trade and Industry said. In the third quarter, the economy expanded 16.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter, the fastest pace since 1997.

For the full year, GDP grew 1.1 per cent year-on-year in 2003, faster than forecasts of 0.80 per cent growth but less than the 2.2 per cent rate in 2002.

Nonetheless, the government was optimistic over the latest GDP figures and increased its forecast for 2004 growth to 3.5-5.5 per cent from 3-5 per cent. It warned, however, that outbreaks of avian flu in Asia could pose a risk and hit tourism-related industries.

The figures came a day after neighbouring Malaysia reported its gross domestic product expanded by 5.2 per cent last year, making it the third fastest growing economy in south-east Asia after Thailand and Vietnam.

Malaysia's growth rate exceeded a government forecast of 4.5 per cent but was in line with market expectations. It was the economy's best performance since 2000. It posted 4.2 per cent growth in 2002.

In October Singapore's industrial production surged 19.3 per cent from a year ago, raising the first hopes that the economy could exceed a growth target of 1 per cent for 2003.

The unexpectedly strong increase reflected a tripling in the production of pharmaceuticals, which Singapore has sought to develop as a high-growth industry, and a 12.7 per cent rise in the output of electronics, its biggest manufacturing industry.

The data underscored the fact that Singapore and the rest of Asia were benefiting from a recovery in the US and Japanese export markets and continued strong demand from China. Industrial production in September rose 6.2 per cent.

The latest figures suggest Singapore's efforts to attract global drugmakers with investment incentives are paying off. Some of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies operate in Singapore, including Pfizer, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Wyeth and Schering-Plough.

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1077690709577&p=1012571727192

Originally posted by huaiwei

Hm....I will be interested in seeing the entire study! :colgate:

so would I!

@drwho, good news, hope it gets better and that there are no shocks like Sars again:yes:

Originally posted by RafflesCity

so would I!check out http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=91721 ;)

CPG Consultants of Singapore to modernise Ahmedabad airport

G GANAPATHY SUBRAMANIAM & SHUBHAM MUKHERJEE

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2004 12:28:08 AM ]
NEW DELHI: Even as the work on the mega project for modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai plods along at a snail’s pace, the progress of the modernisation of Ahmedabad airport has been swifter with the government selecting a design created on the lines of the Changi airport in Singapore. The Delhi and Mumbai projects are several steps away from the design selection stage, highly-placed government sources said.


The brisk progress made by the Ahmedabad airport is significant since the government plans to modernise and upgrade a number of airports in state capitals including Chennai, Kolkata, Jaipur and Thiruvananthapuram using the same model. Apart from Delhi and Mumbai, all the other modernisation projects would be taken up under the ‘non-metro’ model where the design is selected through global selection process and the other aspects like financing and implementation of the project are to be executed using flexible strategies. In comparison, the Delhi and Mumbai airports are being put through a ‘composite’ modernisation model which involves bringing together funds, project execution and management in a unified package.

The design submitted by CPG Consultants of Singapore, the firm that designed the Changi airport, has been selected for Ahmedabad airport’s international terminal, the sources said. Engineers India Ltd and Kothari Associates are the partners of CPG in this project. The design was selected by a committee headed by civil aviation secretary K Roy Paul. The panel included specialists and officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), they added.

The CPG design got the nod from five other shortlisted models including one from ADP of France. The selection was done on the basis of rules laid down by the Council of Architecture.

The committee also considered a number of designs for the Thiruvananthapuram airport but rejected all of them. The shortlisted architects have been told to present another set of designs as the panel did not find any of the submitted designs suitable, the sources said. Once the Thiruvananthapuram project is completed, the civil aviation ministry and the AAI are expected to start work on modernisation of Chennai, Kolkata and Jaipur through a similar model of modernisation.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/522361.cms

Cool..where in India is Ahmedabad?:?

Originally posted by RafflesCity

Cool..where in India is Ahmedabad?:?

Raffie,Ahmedabad is in Gujarat,north-west India.
:)

Originally posted by drwho

Raffie,Ahmedabad is in Gujarat,north-west India.
:)

Thanks. It can only be good news for India to modernise its infrastructure. Hope to see their designs in the future like those awesome new Chinese airports:yes:

Originally posted by RafflesCity

Thanks. It can only be good news for India to modernise its infrastructure. Hope to see their designs in the future like those awesome new Chinese airports:yes:

Raffie,yeap i hope so to CPG-design is very cool :)

i sent a mail to CPG in Singapore and asked them for the 3d renderings of the new airport :)

Wow....it would be cool if they actually replied! :D

Originally posted by huaiwei

Wow....it would be cool if they actually replied! :D

yeap,lets hope so..if not..i guess you have to pay a visit to CPG and ask them for 3d-pics :)
:colgate: :D ;)

Originally posted by drwho

yeap,lets hope so..if not..i guess you have to pay a visit to CPG and ask them for 3d-pics :)
:colgate: :D ;) But they would probably tell....."well, ok we will send u via email"..the irony of it all! :D

Bank clerk turned S'pore's richest man

Dealmaker extraordinaire. An uncanny nose for sniffing out gems. A recluse in his later years. Khoo Teck Puat leaves behind an empire that includes a $4.6-billion Stanchart stake and the flagship Goodwood Park Hotel

By Lorna Tan

A REMARKABLE man who left his mark on the Singapore property scene, the late business tycoon Khoo Teck Puat, 87, was also known for his impeccable sense of dealmaking, with an uncanny nose for sniffing out gems.

When he died on Saturday evening, he left behind a business empire that included the flagship Goodwood Park Hotel, York Hotel, the former Hotel Boulevard and Ladyhill Hotel, chunks of real estate in Singapore and a controlling stake in Britain's Exco group.

He was also, famously, the largest single shareholder of Standard Chartered Bank (Stanchart) - an investment he had accumulated since 1986, when he had been one of three white knights who had helped fend off a hostile takeover bid by Britain-based Lloyds Bank.

Based on Stanchart's last closing price of £9.245 in London, his 13.4-per-cent stake in the bank currently exceeds a whopping £1.45 billion (S$4.59 billion). With a fortune well exceeding $5 billion, Mr Khoo was named Singapore's richest man by America's Forbes magazine last year.

Not bad for a man who began his career as a humble bank clerk at OCBC more than seven decades ago - in 1933 - after leaving St Joseph's Institution. His association with the bank dated back to his father - Khoo Yang Thin - who built his business as a trader and owner of agricultural land. The senior Mr Khoo had stakes in several Hokkien banks that later amalgamated to form Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC Bank) in 1933.

Mr Khoo Teck Puat rose quickly through the ranks to become OCBC's deputy general manager. But he left the bank abruptly in 1959, when he did not make it to its board of directors.

He started a new bank with some partners in Kuala Lumpur. That bank - Malayan Banking (Maybank) - is now one of Malaysia's largest and best-known banks. That was the start of his property buying spree. Under his leadership, Maybank purchased Goodwood Park Hotel for $4.8 million in 1963 and made other Singapore property investments.

Just a few years later in 1965, he found himself in the news again, this time for the wrong reasons. The Malaysian government ousted him from Maybank, accusing him of pumping the bank's money into his own private firms in Singapore. He later bought over the bank's Singapore properties - including the Goodwood Park Hotel and Central Properties - for $50 million.

His involvement in the hotel industry has extended to include the former Ladyhill Hotel, the Hotel Malaysia (which later became the Omni Marco Polo), the Ming Court Hotel (now Orchard Parade Hotel), York Hotel and the Holiday Inn Singapore.

Mr Khoo suffered another humiliating setback in 1986, when the National Bank of Brunei (NBB) - the biggest bank in oil-rich Brunei - accused him of being the mastermind behind the plundering of funds totalling B$1 billion (S$1 billion) from NBB. Mr Khoo's family had owned and run NBB since its founding in 1965.

NBB alleged that through Mr Khoo's family's connections with members of the Brunei royal family, he had siphoned off the money via undocumented, unsecured loans to several private firms for investments in property, stocks and bonds globally. This became fodder for market talk that the monies had been the ammunition for building his impressive business empire.

Although he was never arrested and charged, he retreated from the public eye and was seldom seen or heard from since. His eldest son, Ban Hock, served two years of a three-year sentence in Brunei for conspiracy to defraud NBB and its depositors. Since then, Mr Khoo has sold off Australia's Southern Pacific Hotel Corp - once described as the largest hotel chain in the southern hemisphere - and parent of the Travelodge chain which he acquired in 1981.

It was a solemn atmosphere at the funeral wake held at his Belmont Road bungalow yesterday, where immediate family members and close family friends gathered to pay their last respects.

One such friend is Madam Lim Hsiu Mei who has known Mr Khoo for the past 20 years through his philanthropic deeds. A council member of both Dover Park Hospice and Hospice Care Association, she recalls him as 'a very nice man, very generous, who has done a lot for charity'. A very caring man who was concerned with the man in the street, he believed in giving, especially if it was necessary to help those with no money,' she said, adding that he had donated millions of dollars, and even set up a kidney dialysis centre in Holland Village.

With the death of Mr Khoo, the market is abuzz with speculation as to who will take over the running of his businesses and investments, and whether pieces of his empire could be sold off eventually.

When contacted yesterday, industry players were hesitant to name his successor from among his 14 children, including well-known film-maker Eric Khoo. His daughter Margaret runs York Hotel, while another daughter Jennifer was spotted at Stanchart's results announcement in London last week.

Certainly, all eyes will be on what happens to Mr Khoo's stake in Stanchart, which is held through a variety of holdings including his three Singapore companies - Goodwood Park Hotel, Central Properties and Hotel Malaysia. Commenting on the issue yesterday, a Stanchart spokesman in Singapore said: 'This is a question best answered by his family.'

She added: 'We have not previously been given any indication from the family other than that they're committed to their shareholding in our company. We are deeply saddened by the news. Our thoughts are with his family at this time.'

When contacted, the Khoo family's spokesman, Mr Justin Doebele, also declined to comment on what will happen to the Stanchart stake.

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/mnt/media/image/launched/2004-02-23/khoo.jpg
Khoo Teck Puat

KHOO TECK PUAT (1917-2004)

1917: Born in Singapore.

1933: At age 16, he started work as an apprentice clerk in OCBC.

1958: Was chairman of CPF Board for almost a year.

1959: Was deputy general manager of OCBC before he resigned.

1960: Founded the Malayan Banking group and became managing director. Within six years, the group has 104 offices, including 22 branches in Singapore and 78 in Malaysia.

1963: Maybank purchased Goodwood Park Hotel for $4.8 million.

1968: Mr Khoo acquired a controlling interest in Goodwood Park Hotel.

1976: Ceased to be director of Maybank.

1981: Bought Australia's Southern Pacific Hotel Corp - parent of the Travelodge chain. Also set up the Khoo Foundation - a charitable organisation with a fund of $20 million.

1986: Acquired a 5.03-per-cent stake in Stanchart, valued at 60 pound million, right after Lloyd's Bank made a hostile bid.
Made headlines over the fraud scandal in Brunei.
Jointly named as Australia's wealthiest man by financial magazine Business Review Weekly, along with Australian Robert Holmes a Court.

1988: Sold Southern Pacific Hotel Corp.

1990: Mr Khoo and the Khoo Foundation made contributions amounting to $10 million to the Singapore Government's 25th anniversary charity fund, to help children, the elderly and the disabled.

2003: Listed as Singapore's richest man by America's Forbes magazine.

Business club seeks to expand India links in Singapore

Registered late last year, it has set a modest target of enrolling 150 individuals and 15 companies as members for the first year

By Narendra Aggarwal

SENIOR Indian business executives and professionals have banded together to launch a club that will, among other things, seek to ease entry of Indian firms into Singapore and the region. India Club, registered with the Registry of Societies late last year, has set a primary charter of enhancing economic and political ties between the two nations.

'India has been pursuing with considerable success calibrated globalisation since the end of the Cold War. The government is now encouraging businesses to expand their links abroad,' club president Mukul Asher said in an interview. Citing an example of how Indian businesses were becoming increasingly open to globalisation, he said government-owned Indian Oil Corporation is planning to list its Sri Lankan operations on the Colombo bourse.

The club will also address perception gaps between the two economies. While several studies have sought to address perception gaps about India, this grouping will go a step further. 'There is an information and perception gap about Singapore in India, too. We hope to play a role in trying to address them,' Professor Asher, who is on the faculty of the National University of Singapore, said.

'There is a strong feeling that information and perception gaps in Singapore and the region about India represent a major constraint in making more rapid progress towards deeper economic and political engagement between India on the one hand and Singapore and the region on the other,' he added.

He said that the time was just ripe for the formation of the club. 'Indian professionals have been successfully operating globally for quite some time. India's transformation has been rapid, and this is likely to accelerate.' According to the Economic Development Board, 1,500 Indian firms are registered here, with the number growing every year.

Club secretary, Mr P. K. Basu, who is the managing director of Robust Economic Analysis, said that a modest target of enrolling 150 individuals and 15 companies as members had been set for the first year. While corporate membership is open to India-registered companies, individual membership is for those with Indian passports. People of Indian origin, including Singaporeans, are eligible for associate membership. Graduate student membership is also available to full-time students holding Indian passports.

Mr Basu said that with the expected finalisation of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (Ceca) by the middle of the year, India Club would work towards helping companies in Singapore and India benefit from it. Ceca is an enlarged free trade agreement that Singapore and India are in the final stages of negotiating.

The club has begun to make its presence felt. It held a seminar on the interim Indian budget and recent policy changes in the country at the Ritz-Carlton hotel last week. About 50 people attended the seminar.

A bigger forum is planned on the new Indian budget to be tabled after the new government takes over some time in May following the upcoming general elections, Prof Asher said.

Originally posted by drwho

Raffie,yeap i hope so to CPG-design is very cool :)

i sent a mail to CPG in Singapore and asked them for the 3d renderings of the new airport :)

Dont they have a website? btw does anyone here feel that it is time to consider an India forum? There seems to be a lot of talk about it lately:angel1:

Originally posted by RafflesCity

Dont they have a website? btw does anyone here feel that it is time to consider an India forum? There seems to be a lot of talk about it lately:angel1:

yeap http://www.cpgcorp.com.sg/ :)

maybe it is time for a India/Srilanka-forum..although..i have only seen one indian on SSC. lets wait to dec 2004 and see if more indians show up :) :)

Originally posted by drwho

yeap http://www.cpgcorp.com.sg/ :)

maybe it is time for a India/Srilanka-forum..although..i have only seen one indian on SSC. lets wait to dec 2004 and see if more indians show up :) :)

Thanks for the link. Anyway I've sent a msg to queetz, the chief Asian mod and see what happens from there:yes:

Originally posted by RafflesCity

Thanks for the link. Anyway I've sent a msg to queetz, the chief Asian mod and see what happens from there:yes:

Raffie oh thats cool!!:hug: :happy: ;)

Hahaha!! Even thou I have never communicated this to anyone, I am part of a "highly secret conspiracy" to setup our very own Indian community! :D Drwho is the first one I have seen here, and I think Jai is a potential new-comer, although he is American I think? There have been several other lurkers around, but they are quite unlikely to show a bigger presense unless they feel more at home.

What we can do now, is to attract a credible forumer base (which dosent have to number more then 5 regulars, in actual fact). It makes no sense that the second most populous country in the world do not have a forum section to call its own! :colgate:

Originally posted by huaiwei

Hahaha!! Even thou I have never communicated this to anyone, I am part of a "highly secret conspiracy" to setup our very own Indian community! :D Drwho is the first one I have seen here, and I think Jai is a potential new-comer, although he is American I think? There have been several other lurkers around, but they are quite unlikely to show a bigger presense unless they feel more at home.

What we can do now, is to attract a credible forumer base (which dosent have to number more then 5 regulars, in actual fact). It makes no sense that the second most populous country in the world do not have a forum section to call its own! :colgate:

hehe i knew that something fischy conspiracy is going on hehe;) :happy: :colgate:

yes i think Jai is from Detroit,USA.
Well we can start with a India-forum and you as a mod:).But it has to be very hard regulated.
political discussions should not be permitted in the forum. I have a fealing that that could lead to personal attacks.


as you are saying..the world second populous nation must be in Asia-forum :)

Huaiwei,start a thread about this in main-thread forum at http://www.skyscrapercity.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=95 and we can see what others on the board are saying about the idea:):) :happy:

Erm...me?? Nono...Raffi is a far better candidate since he has Indian blood in him!! :colgate:

haha :)

Ok Raffie its time to work work ,you are the mod in India-forum:)

Singapore working on free trade deal with China
By Chen Qide (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-03-01 08:50

Singapore is looking forward to working with China on a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) upon the completion of FTA negotiations on goods between the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, a senior Singaporean official said in Shanghai on February 28.

"The bilateral FTA will not only institutionalize our access to the Chinese market, but also give our businessmen a leg up in their dealings in China," said Raymond Lim, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Industry at the two-day Fourth Singapore International Foundation (SIF) Overseas Conference which closed on February 29.

A senior official from the Ministry of Commerce said a FTA with a single ASEAN member could possibly be set up when negotiations for the China-ASEAN FTA are concluded as scheduled on June 30.

Some more-developed ASEAN countries, including Singapore, are requesting setting up pacts with China as early as possible.

More than 400 participants from Singapore and China participated in the "New Asia and Emerging China: Opportunities and Strategies" conference.

Lim told them the FTA with China will complement Singapore's access to other major markets in the US, Japan, Australia and, in the near future, India.

For their part, Chinese businessmen will be able to use Singapore as a base to venture into Southeast Asia, he added.

"Singapore has something to offer when Chinese companies are encouraged to venture into the international market," the minister said.

Lim said Singaporean companies are currently looking into ways to co-operate with their Chinese counterparts to help them go global.

The Singapore Stock Exchange has to date listed 33 Chinese companies and is optimistic that the figure will be up to 50 this year.

"But that is not enough," Lim said.

He urged Singaporean companies to continue expanding co-operation with their Chinese counterparts in new areas like marketing, brand management, intellectual property rights and legal certification.

As of 2003, China has attracted a combined investment of US$24.3 billion from Singapore, said Tan Wing Ming, chairman of the Fourth SIF Overseas Conference Organizing Committee.

"Asian countries should maintain close ties with China in the process of its further opening to the outside world," he said

The Singaporean Government has reviewed its development strategy and formulated a blueprint to revitalize its economy in a bid to bring Singapore into the next phase of growth, Lim said.

"China has a major place in our new strategy," he said. "Co-operation and access to the Chinese market are important."

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-03/01/content_310540.htm

Originally posted by drwho

haha :)

Ok Raffie its time to work work ,you are the mod in India-forum:)

LOL. Nah...I decline:D

Anyhow queetz has said that he doesnt think its necessary although I have suggested he create a thread about it for others to discuss too. Its always good to throw up ideas once in a while:angel1:

Originally posted by RafflesCity

LOL. Nah...I decline:D

Anyhow queetz has said that he doesnt think its necessary although I have suggested he create a thread about it for others to discuss too. Its always good to throw up ideas once in a while:angel1:

oh ok :)
well it is to early to have a india-forum,we dont have a skyline yet.. :)

3 March 2004

SINGAPORE : Millward Brown, one of the world's top 10 market research firms, set up its regional headquarters in Singapore just last year.

The regional HQ incentive, which is awarded to smaller companies, allows Millward Brown to enjoy a concessionary tax rate of 15 percent for up to three years.

So the firm was naturally happy when this year's Budget extended the scheme's duration to five years.

But more importantly, it is grateful to the Economic Development Board for helping it find manpower.

"These people are very helpful and try to help us to get contact with the National University and so on. So it's less about these taxes and monetary benefits," said Millward Brown Asia Pacific chief executive Andreas Sperling.

"One of the biggest advantages for Singapore is it's fairly close to Australia where our biggest single operation is. Our overall accounting team is sitting in Sydney, so we will be close to Australia and we're not too far away from China."

Millward Brown is already planning to increase its staff here from 30 to 36 this year.

There are currently six to seven thousand international companies in Singapore, of which about half have regional HQ status.

"Regional HQ is a refinement to help smaller companies. We extended it from three to five years, so hopefully we can capture a lot of smaller companies, maybe from India and China, now that they want to come out to find a home they can call an international home," said Tan Chek Ming, EDB assistant managing director.

To woo more firms to set up shop in Singapore, the government has also extended the pioneer incentive from 10 years to 15 years.

Companies with pioneer status pay zero percent tax.

"Several of the members, especially high technology, manufacturing companies, find this a very welcome enhancement to the programme. Currently, if you're earning tax-free over a 10-year period, that year can be significant for some companies. And now extending it another five years is a 50 percent increase on a tax-free period and that can be quite significant to some of our companies," said Phillip Overmyer, executive director of the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce.

"Frankly, a few of them have told me they're re-evaluating some of their projects in the pipeline for expansion, and I think this will make some of them decide to expand here more than elsewhere," he said.

But Mr Overmyer urges that while Singapore rolls out a longer red carpet for regional and international HQs, it should not neglect other businesses as well.

"The economy has to grow this other wing, the intellectual development, the entrepreneurial, the SME segment of the economy. These incentives really don't apply in that sector. I think we always want to keep in mind that this sector has to be nurtured and developed also," he said.

EDB says tax incentives are just icing on the cake.

Investors are still drawn to Singapore's infrastructure, and political and legal system.

"It's not just the way we manage SARS, but it's also because we've got good schools here for expats, got a good living environment and all this helps to bring some of these HQs to Singapore," said EDB's Tan.

"So last year we had a very good response. This year, the first two to three months we have excellent responses from companies also. So, I think we will continue to attract our fair share of companies to set up HQs in Singapore."

Mr Overmyer said, "The whole biotech, medical, healthcare industry, education -- for example Insead has set up its campus here for the Asia Pacific region. The high-tech manufacturing probably won't see the kind of growth numbers in the '90s, but we will continue to see steady growth but much slower growth and these incentives can enhance that."

Last year, EDB lured 27 firms with its HQ incentive.

As for this year, it says so far it is already above target.

Still, Singapore will have to count itself out when it comes to competing with countries like China and India for certain kinds of investments.

Millward Brown, for example, has already outsourced its data processing to India.

"I will never ever consider to outsource it here to Singapore. But this is something we're going for cheap labour. I would not recommend to Singapore to compete for cheap labour," Mr Sperling said.

"Looking to India for outsourcing into cheap labour, that would mean for Singapore looking backwards and not looking forward."

To woo more investments from India, the EDB is opening an office there. - CNA

Govt raises growth forecast; fewer layoffs expected this year

By Audrey Tan

SINGAPORE'S economy may grow faster than you think this year. The Government has raised its forecast for economic growth for this year to between 3.5 and 5.5 per cent, up from 3 to 5 per cent. Such a performance would be the best in four years.

'The positive factors outweigh the negative factors,' said the Ministry of Trade and Industry's director of economics, Dr Friedrich Wu, yesterday.

Prompting the upgrade are the continuing strengthening of the global economy and increasing optimism among local businesses.

Another good sign: Latest figures show that the Singapore economy ended last year on solid ground, chalking up better-than-expected growth of 1.1 per cent for the full year.

Responding to the good news, the National Trades Union Congress said it expected the number of layoffs to halve this year from last year's 16,300. Deputy secretary-general Matthias Yao said: 'The strong growth in the United States, Japan, China and India will give a boost to our economy this year.

'Foreign investors have confidence in Singapore and will continue to invest here. More jobs will be created.'

Releasing the Annual Economic Survey, Dr Wu attributed the better numbers to a rebound in both manufacturing and services activities from October to December.

All sectors improved:
- Manufacturing industries benefited from stronger global demand.
- Financial services rode on the buoyant stock and foreign exchange markets.
- Transport and communications recovered from the Sars outbreak to grow 3.4 per cent.

As a result, actual economic growth was 4.9 per cent during the fourth quarter, faster than the advance estimate of 3.7 per cent.

As for this year's outlook, the private sector is also expecting the economy to grow an average of 5.4 per cent.

Indeed, JP Morgan economist Lian Chia Liang told The Straits Times yesterday that if global economic growth continues to pick up, Singapore's economy may well beat the Government's new forecast.

'Singapore is more sensitive to global swings than most countries,' he said.

The ministry said some positive factors that could boost Singapore's economy include the 'synchronised' recoveries across all major economies, strong growth in Asia and a continued strengthening of the global electronics industry.

Regional governments are also likely to pursue pro-growth policies, with national elections due in a number of neighbouring countries.

But some risk factors - or 'known unknowns' - include the impact of the bird flu crisis, further acts of terrorism and the re-emergence of Sars.

A further risk is that the US economy could slow if the US dollar plunges under the pressure of the country's huge budget and trade deficits.

In addition, while China is now emerging as a key engine for Singapore's exports, its fast-growing economy could derail if it overheats.

But Dr Wu said: 'The known unknowns are possibilities. But at this point, we don't assign them high probabilities.'

But where there is gain, there is pain: As Singapore's economy improves, the ministry also expects consumer prices to rise by between 0.5 and 1.5 per cent this year, faster than last year's 0.5 per cent increase.

Thats excellent! Better economy = more skyscrapers:guns1:

Bold vision, prudent Budget

DPM announces $1b tax savings, benefits for businesses and individuals

By Chua Mui Hoong

IT WAS a Budget that was prudent yet bold in its vision. Prudent for the way it tightened government spending and sharpened it to target those who needed help. Bold for the decisive way it positioned Singapore as a land of opportunity, a hub for business and talent.

The most concrete measure was a cut in corporate tax from 22 to 20 per cent - a move widely expected as it had been promised in the 2002 Budget. But the personal tax rate for top earners remains at 22 per cent. Cutting it to 20 per cent has been deferred, but remains the target.

The timing has been reconsidered because of 'the unexpectedly difficult economic conditions in the last two years', Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hsien Loong said when he presented the Budget to Parliament yesterday.

To keep government spending down, he trimmed by 2 per cent the budgets of all ministries except Defence. Another 2 per cent will be shaved next year, and ministries are expected to continue with drives to snip waste and economise. Overall, the budget delivers $1 billion of tax savings and benefits for businesses and individuals.

In many respects, this year's Budget was a stepping-stone, taking forward the restructuring begun two years ago. That was when Mr Lee, in his maiden Budget, changed Singapore's tax regime, reducing the reliance on direct taxation by slashing personal and corporate taxes and raising the Goods and Services Tax.

Last year, he put in place changes recommended by the Economic Review Committee which he chaired: trimming business costs, and retuning the Central Provident Fund system. The momentum in making the wage structure more flexible and in reskilling workers will continue, said Mr Lee.

With those major planks already in place, he zoomed in yesterday on specific actions to make Singapore a business and talent hub, against a backdrop of increasing competition and a global trend of outsourcing of skilled work to places like India and China.

For foreign companies - the bulwark of the MNC-dependent economy - there were extensions of preferential tax treatments for regional headquarters and pioneer companies based in Singapore. Specific incentives were unveiled for the shipping and financial industries. Local start-ups will benefit from tax exemption for the first $100,000 of chargeable income for three years. They will also enjoy easier access to financing.

Singapore will maintain its open, pro-business stance as this was the surest way to ensure jobs for Singaporeans, said Mr Lee. So an open-door policy will prevail, to ease companies' talent shortage. This was essential to grow the services sector as jobs in the manufacturing sector dried up. The services sector was manpower-intensive, as evident by shortages in the information technology, health care, aerospace and pharmaceuticals sectors as examples.

Easier visa rules will be in place to induce people to work and travel here. A new category of work pass, the S pass, will bring in skilled workers who earn at least $1,800 and have an acceptable tertiary qualification. Foreign entrepreneurs will be allowed in on the basis of their business plans, not academic qualifications or salary.

Foreign-trained doctors and nurses will also find it easier to work in Singapore, as rules on their qualifications are being streamlined. If these skilled workers were not allowed in, 'we will choke off the growth of these industries or drive them elsewhere', he said.

Unlike generous budgets of the booming 90s, goodies were noticeably absent. Instead, spending this year was tightly focused on those who would need it. So while the delay in the personal income tax cut will disappoint taxpayers in the top bracket, the lower income groups will see another $100 million in Medifund.

Housing Board dwellers will continue to get the promised rebates in service and conservancy charges to offset the rise in GST this year. Those aged 50 and above will get top-ups in their Medisave accounts of between $50 and $200, costing $104 million in all.

There were no details on incentives to encourage couples to have babies, but Mr Lee has put Minister in the PM's Office Lim Hng Kiang in charge of coming up with suggestions by National Day. Car-buyers will have cause for cheer as the Additional Registration Fee will be cut from 130 to 110 per cent of the Open Market Value.

After factoring in the fiscal incentives and giveaways, there will be a deficit of $1.35 billion. Operating revenue is $28.3 billion, while operating expenditure is $30.4 billion, and the budget deficit is $0.7 billion before the giveaways. It will be funded by past years' surpluses. The Government aimed to balance the Budget next year, barring economic shocks. But the tight fiscal position will continue, as taxes had to be cut to remain competitive, while demands for social spending rose with an ageing population.

So long-term spending on higher education and health care will be rationalised, to reverse trends of increasing public expenditure in these areas. He gave few details but said undergraduates should bear a bigger share of their education, while health subsidies should be targeted at those who needed it.

The measures - both immediate tax breaks and longer-term overhauls - would position Singapore to take advantage of the recovery. Already, there was a sense of palpable optimism. Singapore grew just 1.1 per cent last year on the back of the Iraq war and the severe acute respiratory syndrome virus but the forecast this year is 3.5 to 5.5 per cent. 'With Asia on the rise, we must remake Singapore as a land of opportunity,' he said.

Caution reigns

With the tight Budget position, much-anticipated income tax cuts did not materialise but individuals still gain from tax breaks on investments

By Leong Chan Teik

if you are among the one in three Singaporeans who pay income tax, this year's Budget may be a case of 'win some, lose some' - as far as tax is concerned.

The good news first. Budget changes will save Singaporeans $42 million a year.

Let's say you have investments - such as stocks, fixed deposits, unit trusts, bonds and annuities - in Singapore.

The unit trusts and bonds pay you a regular dividend in cash which has long been taxed. Starting from Year of Assessment 2005, such payouts will not be taxed.

Or you have annuities, and you have had to pay tax on the money you receive monthly in your retirement.

This tax will be a thing of the past too.

Ditto for your shareholding in real estate investment trusts (Reits), which are increasingly popular. These are companies that own commercial or industrial properties and earn their income from rent.

When the 'distribution', which is jargon for the money you get regularly from Reits, is exempted from tax, the yield on your investments gets a boost, noted Ernst & Young head of tax Pok Soy Yoong.

That makes Reits more attractive as an investment, he said.

What about dividends from Singapore-listed shares, an asset which forms the bulk of many Singaporeans' investment portfolio?

There is nothing specific in the Budget for such dividends. But you may benefit, said Ms Juliana Ng, director of tax at Ernst & Young.

Companies will pay a lower corporate tax rate of 20 per cent, instead of 22 per cent, and this applies as well to dividends on shares.

Based on certain assumptions, that could mean they will send slightly more in net dividends along to you.

There is another major class of investment - fixed deposits, current and savings accounts - in any approved bank.

Here, the tax position is status quo - which is to say, interest income from principal sums in excess of $100,000 will continue to be exempted from tax.

Interest income for principal sums below $100,000 will be exempted from Year of Assessment 2006.

Ditto for foreign currency deposits.

(Interest on POSBank savings of up to $100,000 is already tax-exempt).

Now, if you have overseas investments such as bank deposits and properties, you ask: what about income derived from them and remitted back to Singapore?

The answer: All personal income remitted to Singapore will be exempted from tax from Year of Assessment 2005.

Ms Anne Tay, vice-president of wealth management at OCBC, said it is hoped that Singaporeans will remit money home and boost the wealth management industry here.

She said individuals will be guided by other factors too.

'It's also a question of which country and which currency offer the best return for their money,' she said.

The tax exemption for foreign-sourced income and Singapore-sourced investment income is expected to cost the Government $42 million each year.

Now, the not-so-great news: cuts in personal income tax are being deferred.

The current 22 per cent top rate stays 'for the time being', said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday. It was supposed to have dropped to 20 per cent.

The rationale for preserving the status quo includes the Government's aim to 'husband our tax revenues' and to make up for a shortfall in revenue because of a delay in implementing the 5 per cent Goods & Services Tax (GST).

For someone with a taxable income of $500,000, a 2 percentage point cut would have translated into $10,000 savings.

It is not just the super income-earners who would have benefited.

If the top rate had been cut, there would have been a cascading effect on the rates for other taxpayers.

We are talking about savings ranging from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars.

These savings will happen one day. A 20 per cent top rate remains the Government's goal, Mr Lee said.

'The Government will watch the budgetary position and economic outlook carefully, and will reduce personal taxes as soon as conditions permit.'

Said Mr B.J. Ooi, director, KPMG Tax Services: 'One can hazard a guess that the reduction will eventually come with an increase in GST.'

Cheers for beer lovers

Smaller-size bottles of liquor cheaper, but lighting up will cost even more

By Bryan Lee

Smokers were hit with yet another hike in tobacco duties but drinkers will have something to cheer about as they can expect to pay less in taxes on beer, sparkling wine and some bottles of liquor.

As a result, a packet of 20 cigarettes is likely to go up by 76 cents. This will see a pack of Marlboros, for instance, costing $9.26, from $8.50 before the changes took effect yesterday.

But beer could drop in price by 15 cents a can at shops, or $1 a jug at the pub, according to the industry, as duty on beer, ale and sparkling wine is lowered.

Some smaller bottles of liquor may also be cheaper as the Government moved from imposing taxes based on standard-size bottles to a system based on the exact volume.

Taxes on cigarettes were yesterday raised 15 per cent to 29.3 cents per stick, from 25.5 cents, as the Government sought to curb smoking.

The rise in tobacco duties is the fifth straight increase in five years.

Mr Lee explained the latest tax hike by citing a study by the National University of Singapore. It found that smoking-related diseases in 1997 cost $700 million to $800 million in health care, absenteeism and loss of productivity.

'I have decided to further raise the excise duties... to discourage smoking, especially among our young,' he said.

Still, yesterday's rise was smaller than that of the previous year where changes to tobacco taxation saw prices rising as much as $1.60 a pack.

For those partial to sake, whisky, brandy and other liquors and who buy bottles smaller than the standard size, which is 750ml for most liquors and wines, they are likely to enjoy lower duties.

They would no longer pay duty based on standard-size bottles but will instead pay according to the exact volume.

Mr Lee said the move would save the liquor industry about $3.7 million in duties each year.

Duties on beer and ale were reduced to $2.70 per litre, from $3.10, while taxes on sparkling wine were cut to $9.50 per litre, from $10.40.

Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore general manager Les Buckley said the company, which makes the Tiger brand beer, will reduce its wholesale prices accordingly, but added it may take a week or two before consumers enjoy the lower prices.

'Our distributors and retailers currently hold reasonable stocks of beer which they purchased at a higher duty level. Thus, we do not expect beer pricing to drop immediately.'

He reckoned that the price of a can of Tiger could drop by 15 cents, while a jug could be $1 cheaper.

Start-up breaks

New businesses get financial boost from enterprise scheme, while corporate tax rate cut to 20%

By Lee Su Shyan

Last year, the call was for Singapore companies to go overseas. This year, the emphasis is on encouraging start-up companies - a segment that may have felt left out in the cold last year.

The big change in this Budget for the wider business world was a widely-anticipated cut in the corporate tax rate from 22 per cent to 20 per cent, which had been foreshadowed by the Government.

And this cut, which will cost the Government $800 million a year, was widely welcomed as one that would maintain Singapore's highly competitive business environment.

But that aside, the major goal of yesterday's Budget was promoting entrepreneurship by making it easier for new companies to take that all-important leap of faith and get off the ground.

As Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hsien Loong said: 'New companies represent our hopes for a more entrepreneurial economy.'

Backing this belief, he announced a series of measures that would 'give these start-ups every opportunity to thrive and succeed'.

One key plank is a total tax holiday for new companies for the first $100,000 of normal taxable income (excluding dividends) each year for their first three years of assessment.

The Government also appeared to widen its focus by embracing all kinds of start-ups and not just high-tech ones, which were in the limelight during the dot.com boom of the late 1990s.

Mr Lee said that 'not all successful start-ups need to be high-tech'.

Some new businesses thrived by selling everyday items such as coffee, sushi and hamburgers in innovative ways, he added.

So the Enterprise Investment Incentive, which takes in all start-ups, will replace the more narrowly-focused Technopreneur Investment Incentive.

This scheme gives investors a tax deduction for losses incurred if the company fails or if they have to sell their shares at a loss.

So now someone investing in a food retailing company, just as much as an Internet-based company, has more reasons to take the plunge.

Still, some tax experts say this type of incentive is even more attractive in some other countries because investors get the tax deduction at the point of investing.

The new start-up-friendly policy also tackles a common complaint among small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) over banks that do not want to lend them vital funds to get their businesses started.

This will be addressed by allowing SMEs to raise funds through a method known as securitisation, which means that a bank will issue bonds based on a pool of loans to SMEs.

These measures were generally welcomed by players.

For example, Dr Richard Goh, the managing director of Mega-Tech Industries, which makes air-conditioners and electronic appliances, said that the $100,000 tax-exempt move would help him as he is diversifying into the packaging of food items for export to Africa.

'With this tax break, the money saved can be used to support our branding activities overseas.'

He said these types of measures can encourage a company in a declining industry to venture into new areas.

Still start-up Agathos Solutions, an information technology company, had one caveat, suggesting that some new companies did not make much profit in the first two years.

Its managing director Leong Howe-Way said: 'Generally in the first few years, we put in the investment and incur the marketing costs.

'So this incentive means that we enjoy it for only one year if we are profitable in the third year. Especially with the Government encouraging us to go overseas, it may take longer before we make a profit.'

But for the larger corporate players, other than the two-point tax rate cut, there are few other big new initiatives.

Ernst & Young (E&Y) tax partner Kang Choon Pin said: 'The cut in tax rate was the most significant of the broad-based measures in the Budget, which fine-tunes a number of significant changes introduced previously.'

For example, the regional headquarters incentive, which encourages multinational companies (MNCs) to base their headquarters here, will see its maximum duration extended from three years to five years.

Also, the duration of the pioneer incentive - the incentive given to MNCs that make large investments here - will be extended from the current maximum of 10 years to 15 years.

Still, the tax rate cut, which gives Singapore the region's second most attractive corporate tax rate after Hong Kong at 17.5 per cent, made everyone happy.

Chief executive Douglas Foo of Apex-Pal International, which owns the Sakae Sushi chain, said of the tax cuts: 'That's always welcome news.'

With the interest from bonds tax-exempt for retail investors, companies that plan to tap the debt market may now find a wider investor pool, said E&Y's head of tax Pok Soy Yoong.

But there appeared to be some disappointment among the smaller players given that rebates and other goodies did not materialise.

The Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that its wish for 'a Budget package that would boost demand and lower costs were largely unfulfilled'.

While the Government was still encouraging companies to go regional, there were no specific new incentives relating to this push.

For SMEs who felt that the effects from the recent upturn in the economy had not yet filtered down to them, the lack of incentives was also disappointing.

Said Mr D.D. Gupta, managing director of Sineximco, which trades in commodities: 'We were looking for some cost-reduction incentives for the SMEs, especially at the moment as we are struggling.'

Mr Joel Leong, chief financial officer of Precision engineering firm Juken Technology, was happy with the tax cut.

But he added: 'There's no mention of cutting fees such as levies or utilities. While the tax rate may encourage more firms to stay in Singapore and not move overseas, if the company is loss-making, the tax cut will not be meaningful.'

But companies recognised that with the aim to balance the Budget next year, the Government cannot afford all the reliefs that companies may be used to.

And in terms of the broader picture, the effects of the measures will be seen only a few years down the road.

Mr Renato Sirtori, chairman of the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce, said that the Budget 'focuses on building new competitive industries while sustaining critical existing business sectors'.

He cited the 'critical support for emerging SMEs and start-up companies that will be essential for the success of the new wing of Singapore's economy'.

General manager Alex Toh of SureCatch, a fishing tackle company established in 1965, feels that the Government has done its bit to create a more pro-business environment that will help Singapore compete in the region.

'If you hand out $2,000, it's a one-time gesture, but reducing the number of rules and making it easier for start-ups to set up business is very important in the long-run.'


CORPORATE GOODIES
To make Singapore an attractive business hub and to promote entrepreneurship, established firms and start-ups were given tax goodies in this year's Budget.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TO PROMOTE SINGAPORE AS BUSINESS HUB
Corporate tax rate
• Cut from 22 per cent to 20 per cent with effect from YA 2005.

• Cost to Government is $800 million a year.

Regional headquarters incentive
• Extended from a maximum of three years to five years with immediate effect.

• This means eligible firms enjoy a concessionary tax rate of 15 per cent for a longer period.

Pioneer incentive
• Extended from a maximum of 10 years to 15 years with immediate effect.

• Eligible firms enjoy tax exemption on qualifying profits for a longer period of time.

Withholding taxes on royalty payments
• Reduced from 15 per cent to 10 per cent from Jan 1, 2005.

• This makes it cheaper to tap intellectual property, much of which is outside Singapore.

• Cost to Government is $44 million.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TO FOSTER ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Tax exemption for start-ups
• New companies enjoy full tax exemption on their first $100,000 of normal taxable income (excluding Singapore dividends).

• Exemption applies for each of their first three years of assessment that fall within the period YA 2005 to YA 2009.

• Cost to Government is $11 million a year

Technopreneurship Investment Incentive
• Now re-named Enterprise Investment Incentive

• Expanded to include all forms of start-ups and not just high-tech ones

• Allows eligible investors to claim tax deductions which are equal to the capital losses incurred from the sale of qualifying shares or liquidation of approved start-ups.

Cheaper cars

Tax cuts mean lower prices for passenger cars, but taxi prices will go up

By Christopher Tan

As widely expected, the Government has lowered upfront tax for cars by another 20 percentage points, which will mean cheaper cars. Less expected was its decision yesterday to raise the duty for taxis.

A passenger car's additional registration fee (ARF) will now be 110 per cent of its open-market value (OMV). The 20-point cut is similar in size to the last reduction two years ago.

The latest revision, applicable to cars with certificates of entitlement (COEs) obtained from next month, brings the ARF close to its 100 per cent level, seen nearly 30 years ago. It is the fourth cut since ARF hit a high of 175 per cent over a decade ago.

The new rate will send waves of buyers to car showrooms.

Car prices will come down but motor traders are likely to be conservative and not drop list prices by quite as much as the cut.

For instance, Jardine Cycle & Carriage yesterday cut its Mitsubishi pri- ces by $2,000-$3,000, and Kia by $1,000-$2,000.

This is because COE premiums are likely to rise with the surge in demand. In the last few months, dealers have observed potential customers staying on the sidelines in anticipation of tax changes.

This is where history is likely to repeat itself. A buying frenzy brought on by the lowered rates will send COEs surging in the following one or two tenders.

Then, when the Government announces the new quota, prices will gradually soften.

So those who rush might later wish they hadn't. Similarly, new car buyers might wish they had waited a little longer, though there is consolation: Their cars will have a higher scrap value than those bought with the lowered ARF. Scrap rebate (also known as preferential ARF) is pegged at 50-75 per cent of ARF.

On the corporate level, the tax cut bodes well for car distributors as well as businesses operating in Singapore. For the former, higher demand usually translates to better profits; and for the latter, lower vehicle costs would reduce overall operating costs.

Not so for the taxi companies. Excise duty for taxis has been raised by 10 points. As OMV for a big cab is around $20,000, companies will pay $2,000 more per new taxi.

For ComfortDelgro, which has about 16,000 cabs, its average yearly replacement costs could go up by as much as $4 million.

That the Government has decided to raise the excise duty of taxis, implies that the tariff will stay as a 'base tax' for cars. Future reductions of upfront cost will therefore come almost exclusively from ARF. Theoretically, it - and the scrap rebate - can be reduced to zero.

Other implications of the latest tax change includes a drop in used-car prices. First-time buyers could benefit more than those who need to trade in. Next, early scrapping of cars will continue. Cars bought as recently as 2002 will start going off the road as their resale values here drop.

Workshop income of car companies might dive, as demand for replacement parts dwindle. Car inspection companies might also be hit. But those involved in the re-export business should enjoy brisk business.

For the country, the exercise should be revenue neutral. The ARF cut should be offset by increased car registrations brought on by an expected higher allocation of COEs. This in turn translates to revenue contributions like registration fees, road tax, ERP and petrol duty.

Finance boost

FINANCIAL institutions received a package of measures that include the following:

• Concessionary tax rate: To promote higher value-added processing services, a concessionary tax rate of 5 per cent will be granted on qualifying income derived by companies from the provision of such services to financial institutions. The qualifying period is from yesterday to Feb 26, 2009.

• Expanding the qualifying debt scheme: To spur further development of part of the financial markets known as the short-term debt market, which typically involves discount debt instruments, the Qualifying Debt Securities (QDS) scheme will be enhanced to cover discount income arising from QDS.

• Enhancing tax exemption schemes for foreign investors: The tax exemption schemes for foreign investors and foreign trusts whose funds are managed by any fund manager or trustee company in Singapore will cover income derived from other sources, including rental and other income derived from immovable properties outside Singapore and received in Singapore.

• Promoting the SGX: To spur development of indigenous financial products as well as foster SGX trading activities, the tax incentive scheme for SGX members will be enhanced. For example, the current 5 and 10 per cent concessionary tax rates will be extended to products denominated in Singapore dollars.

Big on shipping

TO RETAIN and attract international shipowners and operators to operate from Singapore, the Approved International Shipping Enterprise (AIS) scheme will be expanded. Now, the onshore charter income of an AIS company is not tax exempt, except when it is received from another AIS company. With effect from year of assessment 2005, all onshore charter income received by an AIS company will be tax exempt.

New foreign work pass introduced

By Sue-Ann Chia

EMPLOYERS will find it easier to hire skilled foreign workers to meet shortfalls in local manpower with a new work pass introduced by the Government yesterday.

As more higher-value and skills-based industries decide to come here, Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said they will need skilled workers in numbers which the local workforce may not be able to supply.

'If we lack these middle-tier skilled workers, whether local or foreign, we will choke off the growth of these industries or drive them elsewhere,' he said in his Budget statement in Parliament yesterday.

Manpower projections show that in 2009, the biggest gap will be for workers who have diploma and post-secondary qualifications.

In fact, the shortage is already evident in certain occupations such as nurses, physiotherapists, computer programmers, laboratory technicians and aerospace technicians.

So the Manpower Ministry will modify the current work pass system to include a new tier, called the S-pass, for more skilled workers to come here. It will come into effect on July 1.

To qualify for an S-pass, applicants need:

• A minimum monthly basic salary of $1,800.

• Diploma or technical qualifications.

• Work experience, skills and job type will also be considered.

The S-pass adds to the array of work passes available to foreigners and is meant for those who currently do not quite qualify.

They are meant for those who cannot meet the criteria to get a full employment pass and are over-qualified for the R pass, a work permit for semi-skilled or unskilled workers. Currently, such people can come in but are given passes, called the Q2, on a case-by-case basis.

There are safeguards to control the number of S-pass holders, said Mr Lee, such as a quota system and a levy, initially set at $50 a month.

For a start, the quota is 5 per cent, but it can be changed depending on market conditions.

Employers such as those in the health-care clusters were pleased with the new pass, confident that it will enable public hospitals to solve the acute staff shortage problem.

Ms Tong Yoke Tho, deputy director (group corporate relations) for National Healthcare Group, said: 'We welcome the flexibility that S-pass accords...as we have not been able to draw the required number of trained local professionals to meet our manpower needs.'

Deficit to shrink

The Govt is likely to incur $751m shortfall this year, its third in the past 4 years

By Ignatius Low

As the Government continues to cut corporate taxes and other fees to ensure Singapore's competitiveness, it is likely to end up in the red again this year.

Its Budget deficit for the upcoming financial year - or the difference between what it spends, and collects in taxes and fees - is expected to be $751 million, according to the Budget Book.

The shortfall is not as bad as it was last year, when the economy was hit by the Sars outbreak, or in 2001, when Singapore suffered a bad recession.

Yet, it is still the Government's third deficit in the past four years. But Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in yesterday's Budget statement that the Government intends to balance the Budget by the next financial year (FY).

It will do this by cutting ministries' budgets by 2 per cent this year and next, and pressing on with a civil service-wide economy drive, among other things.

Figures from the Budget Book also showed that the Government's projected deficits in past years turned out to be smaller than expected.

Two years ago, the Government predicted a deficit of $190 million, which was revised to $90 million last year. The actual figure for FY2002 - released this year - was a surplus of $190 million.

Last year's deficit was originally estimated at $900 million. After the Sars outbreak, it widened to an estimated $2.2 billion. But latest figures show the shortfall has been revised to $1.76 billion.

Why has the Government's financial situation improved? The Finance Ministry said this was mainly due to savings in development expenditure.

According to the Budget Book, the Government expects to collect 13.8 per cent more tax revenue this year as the economy recovers and a further 1 percentage point rise in the goods and services tax kicks in. Expenditure, however, is also expected to rise modestly by 5.6 per cent.

TIGHT LID ON COSTS

The Government intends to balance the Budget by next year and will push ahead with changes in four areas to keep expenditure in check

PERMANENT BUDGET CUTS
• What's new: All ministries except the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) to have their budgets cut permanently by another 2 per cent next year, on top of this year's cut of 2 per cent.

It is prudent for ministries to assume that budgets will stay tight as the economic recovery is still in its early stages.

Mindef is exempt as defence provides the peace and security needed for economic progress.

• Impact: The Government saves $450 million a year.

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GETTING MORE FOR THE DOLLAR
• What's new: Five per cent of non-core government services will be 'best sourced', meaning that ministries must test the market and contract out the job if the private sector can do it more efficiently.

The Cut Waste Panel has accepted more suggestions, including one to stop late-payment reminders from the Work Permit department once employers pay up. This will save $187,000 in postage.

Under the Economy Drive, the Education Ministry has revised schools' space and design requirements, Mindef has reduced in-camp training days and the Finance Ministry has frozen head count, capped wage rises and reconfigured its information technology infrastructure.

• Impact: $475 million saved through the Economy Drive without compromising quality service. Private sector to get more contracts as 'best sourcing' expands.

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MORE ONLINE DELIVERIES
• What's new: Better and faster online services including a common bill payment website will result from the $1.3 billion Second E-Government Action Plan.

The Government will extend its e-Citizen Helper Service to ensure access for all Singaporeans.

• Impact: Savings in time and money for government, businesses and individuals.

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SHEDDING NON-CORE FUNCTIONS
• What's new: More statutory board companies to be divested under a review launched last year.

Temasek Holdings will continue to consolidate and rationalise its stable of companies. It will divest itself of those that are no longer relevant to its mission.

• Impact: This will keep the Government lean and trim.

On the right track

Restructuring the economy, upgrading our capabilities, strengthening society and living within our means. These create the conditions that make Singapore a land of opportunity.

Excerpts from Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hsien Loong's Budget speech

In the last six years, the Singapore economy experienced more volatility and uncertainty than it had encountered over the previous 30 years. Beginning with the Asian financial crisis in 1997, a series of external shocks buffeted our economy and ended a decade of uninterrupted growth.

We were all hoping for a quick turnaround last year, as our economy had bounced back quickly from previous downturns. But Sars and the war in Iraq dashed our hopes. We had a very difficult first half. But the economy showed clear signs of turning around towards the end of the year.

In the fourth quarter, gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 4.9 per cent compared to the previous year. This brought growth for the whole year to 1.1 per cent. The recovery was reflected in increased exports, investments and employment. Both manufacturing and services benefited from an increasingly favourable external environment.

Employment also improved. More jobs opened up as companies regained the confidence to start hiring again. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped from the peak of 5.5 per cent in September to 4.5 per cent in December.

Macroeconomic policies helped support the economy. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) maintained a neutral policy stance for the trade-weighted exchange rate of the Singapore dollar, after re-centring the policy band at a lower level.

The Government introduced two off-Budget fiscal packages to support the economy, and help households and businesses tide through a difficult period. In the absence of support from monetary and fiscal policies, GDP growth last year might have been flat instead of 1.1 per cent.

Riding the recovery in 2004

Our recovery is picking up. There is a palpable optimism among Singaporeans and businesses. The December Straits Times Consumer Confidence Index surged 82 points to 294, bringing it close to its levels in 2000, when the economy was growing strongly. Retail sales in December rose by 21 per cent month-on-month and 10 per cent year-on-year.

We have revised our growth forecast for this year upwards to between 3.5 and 5.5 per cent. But we have to look beyond the cyclical pickup in our growth rate and achieve sustained long-term growth by transforming our economy.

That will depend on our ability to carry through our economic restructuring, upgrade our industries and create new and better jobs to replace the old jobs that are being phased out.

Our commitment to restructuring is a key reason why analysts and investors are confident about Singapore's long-term prospects, and why multinational companies (MNCs) still want to put their projects in Singapore.

Restructuring report card

The Economic Review Committee's recommendations, the Central Provident Fund (CPF) changes, the cut in direct taxes and wage reform lay the foundations for a globalised, diversified and entrepreneurial economy. These fundamental changes reflect our resolve to stay relevant in an increasingly competitive world.

First, we continue to grow the manufacturing and services sectors. We are strengthening our position as a global business hub and one of the most attractive places in Asia for investments and talent.

Singapore remains competitive as a manufacturing location, especially for high-tech, high value-added activities. In the past year, many MNCs have either committed to expand their existing activities or to establish regional headquarters in Singapore.

However, overall the manufacturing sector is not likely to generate many more jobs. MNCs are shifting to higher value-added, less labour-intensive activities and will increase output per worker rather than hire more workers.

So to create jobs for Singaporeans, we also need to put strong emphasis on the services sector. We are developing established services such as trading and logistics, info-communications technology, financial services and tourism, while fostering emerging services such as education, health care and the creative sector.

The second strategy we are pursuing is to reform our labour market so that companies and workers can respond to fast-changing business conditions. The CPF changes and the ongoing push for wage reform are important parts of this effort. They will help to preserve existing jobs and create new ones for Singaporeans.

We made major changes to our CPF scheme last year to maintain our cost competitiveness. The CPF changes are long-term structural adjustments, not tactical responses to transient conditions. They will strengthen our competitiveness, but we still cannot be sure that our wage levels will never become too high again one day. Should this happen, we should not bank on another large cut in CPF rates to restore our competitiveness, as we did in 1985 and 1998.

The CPF is a blunt tool for cost reduction. And now that we have reduced the rate to 33 per cent, there is less room for further reduction. This makes it more important to have flexible wage structures, so that companies can respond quickly to changes in the business environment. This will help companies stay viable and preserve jobs in a severe downturn, while giving them the confidence to reward workers and increase employment in good times.

A third major strategy is to boost entrepreneurship. This process takes time because we are not just changing government rules, but seeking to shift mindsets. The Government is doing its utmost to foster a conducive environment for entrepreneurship. The Action Community for Entrepreneurship, chaired by Minister of State Raymond Lim, is nurturing entrepreneurship, pursuing entrepreneurship promotion programmes and acting as the interface between the private sector and Government.

A fourth major strategy is to promote competition and free markets in all sectors of the economy. Competition spurs firms to be more efficient and innovative, and more responsive to customer needs. It prepares our firms to be internationally competitive and to hold their own in the region.

Consumers enjoy wider choice and better products and services, and often lower prices. The economy as a whole gains from higher productivity and more efficient allocation of resources and in the longer term, also from more innovation and job creation.

This year, the Ministry of Trade and Industry will be proposing to Parliament a competition law covering most sectors of the economy. To complement the liberalisation and deregulation of our economy, we need a means to stop companies from engaging in anti-competitive behaviour and undoing the benefits of efficient and innovative markets.

The pillars of success

We face formidable challenges in restructuring and upgrading our economy and coping with shocks and uncertainties in our external environment. But our capacity to overcome these challenges is much greater than ever before. As we develop new capabilities and strategies, we must continue to build on and make the most of our strengths.

Three fundamentals have been the pillars of Singapore's success and will allow us to sustain our growth and prosperity. These pillars are:

• An effective government that delivers sound public finances, responsive fiscal policies that help to stabilise the economy, and good financial practices that ensure value for money in public spending.

• A strong society. A resilient and cohesive population, and a strong social compact between government and the people that helps see us through good and bad times together.

• A land of opportunity where every individual has the chance to be the best he can be, a home where people want to raise their families, an economy which attracts talent and investments, and a centre for businesses to pursue new and exciting opportunities.

Living within our means

One of the most important contributions any government can make to economic growth and resilience is to put public finances on a sound footing. A balanced Budget and a trim and efficient public sector will make for stable macroeconomic conditions and a pro-business climate. Only then can the private sector grow and create wealth for the people.

Fiscal prudence has been a hallmark of Singapore's economic management. We must continue to maintain fiscal prudence, despite stronger spending pressures and tighter budgets. We will spend more in a downturn if we need to, even if it means going into temporary deficit, as we have done in the past two years. But we must never fall into the trap of structural Budget deficits, with a permanent shortfall of revenue.

On average, over the course of the business cycle, we aim to accumulate a modest surplus, putting aside something in good years so that we have some savings to draw upon in bad years. In order to live within our means, we must keep government expenses in check. This means confining the Government to essential functions and preventing the bureaucracy from bloating up. This will also free up talent and resources for the private sector and create space for private initiative and enterprise.

The Government faces a very tight fiscal position in fiscal year 2004. Operating revenues should rise, but so will spending needs. Despite the improved economy, we still project a Budget deficit. As much as the Government strives to be lean and effective, we must recognise that the state by itself cannot create wealth or jobs. Neither can it force citizens to adopt an enterprising mindset.

But the Government can and will create the environment for private enterprise to flourish, for investments to take place, and for individuals to realise their dreams. This in turn will create jobs and wealth.

Strong society, strong Singapore

After effective government, the next important fundamental for Singapore's survival and success is a strong society. Stable families, social cohesion, racial and religious harmony, secure homes and streets - these make Singapore a strong society and an attractive place in which to live, work and play. A strong society is marked by a high degree of self-reliance, resilience and social responsibility.

Government will provide a safety net for those who cannot help themselves and cannot find help elsewhere. We walk a fine line here. If we offer too much protection to citizens, it weakens their resilience and saps their spirit to survive on their own. Our social safety nets must therefore be carefully targeted, and must not undermine our will to work and to improve ourselves.

Building the next generation

Our children embody our hopes for the future. Singapore's birth rate is way below replacement level and falling. This is a serious problem. A declining birth rate will sap the vitality and resilience of our country. The accelerated decline in Total Fertility Rate since 1998 was partly caused by economic uncertainty - these were the years of the Asian financial crisis and the two recessions.

But the underlying downtrend in birth rates is real and will continue unless we take decisive steps now. Our existing measures are not enough. We must take a more comprehensive approach to solving this problem.

We must encourage young people to marry and marry earlier, and make it easier for young couples to start and raise a family. And we have to take a long-term view. The impact of our policies on birth rates may not be felt immediately because changing attitudes, mindsets and practices takes time and patience.

We need to shift social attitudes towards having children, even while we recognise that having children is a very personal decision which couples have to make for themselves. There is no single magic solution. The approach must be both holistic and coherent, addressing parents' concerns from childbirth through the years of bringing up their children.

Looking to the future with hope

2003 was a tough year, but we emerged from it stronger. Our response to Sars demonstrated our resilience as a people. We are well-placed to ride the upturn in the global economy this year. Most importantly, we have what it takes to sustain Singapore's dynamism and growth over the long term.

But we must also be prepared to encounter more shocks and uncertainties. Fresh terrorist attacks could undermine confidence in the region. New diseases more dangerous than Sars or avian influenza may emerge. China and India will pose fresh challenges as they continue to open up to the world.

Our strategy in this environment of growing competition is to keep our economy open and continually enhance our competitiveness. This means upgrading our skills, making our wages more flexible, encouraging entrepreneurship and promoting free markets. We must not seek to shield ourselves from competition but to meet it and excel.

We are on the right track. We are lowering taxes, spending only on essentials and maintaining a prudent fiscal position. We are creating the conditions for new businesses and enterprises to flourish while building on our strengths in manufacturing and services. And we are creating opportunities for enterprising Singaporeans, while targeting social safety nets at the truly needy who lack other means of support.

Looking ahead, there is much to be hopeful about. We are at the heart of a resurgent Asia, midway between the booming economies of China and India. Opportunities abound in the region and beyond. The Government will play its part to make things possible.

And I have every confidence that Singaporeans will seek these opportunities, grab the openings and create new possibilities for ourselves. We will adjust to change, overcome adversity and confront challenges courageously and imaginatively. We will press on with confidence and reach out for success.

Together, as one Singapore, we will build a future of opportunity for ourselves and our children.

Ground shift

Budget 2004 may be underwhelming but it's only a checkpoint along the way to a major economic transformation

By Eddie Lee

If you thought this year's Budget underwhelmed, well, you've got company. Expectations for the FY2004 Budget were muted in the first place; many believed there would only be fine-tuning measures since the key recommendations of the Economic Review Committee (ERC) have already been implemented.

To be sure, there are signs of an economic recovery after three lean years. At a media briefing on Thursday, Dr Friedrich Wu, the Ministry of Trade and Industry's (MTI) economic division director, was upbeat. 'The positive factors outweigh the negative factors', he said, and that was because of the 'synchronised' economic recoveries across all major economies. Private-sector economists are optimistic too. Most expect this year's economy will grow 5.4 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent last year.

But don't let this talk lead you to ignore the fact that the ground has shifted. As Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong put it, in the last six years, the Singapore economy experienced more volatility and uncertainty than it had encountered over the previous 30 years. It is unlikely that we will return to our past era of uninterrupted growth.

The fragility of our current economic recovery rests on its total dependence on the external environment. Last year, demand for our goods and services rose 3.9 per cent, led by a 9.5-per-cent growth in external demand. Domestic demand fell 9.6 per cent.

So DPM Lee took the opportunity to emphasise the principles of his government's economic philosophy. To counter the increased volatility of the global business cycles, Singapore's economy will be opened further to competition and the labour market made more flexible as far as possible.

Major reforms have been taken, are taking place and will take place. This year's Budget was merely a checkpoint along the way. The CPF and wage reforms have been announced. Liberalisation of the services sector is underway, from the financial sector to telecommunications and power generation. This year, the MTI will be proposing to Parliament a competition law covering most sectors of the economy. It will be necessary to allow the means to stop companies from engaging in anti-competitive behaviour.

Then there are policies to assist the transformation of the economy from a manufacturing to a services hub. The reason is clear. The manufacturing sector will increasingly see its lower end relocate to low-cost countries; while the high value-added end is growing, they no longer generate many jobs.

It is an urgent task. For if you looked at our trade in goods last year, you would have thought it was a bumper year. Exports of goods jumped 12 per cent and exceeded imports by some $51 billion, or an astonishing 32 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Our surplus in trade of goods was just 1.2 per cent of GDP eight years earlier. But few Singaporeans felt the prosperity of that growth.

Now contrast this with our trade in services. Exports of services was stagnant last year, although we managed to chalk up a surplus of $2 billion or 1.2 per cent of GDP. Our services surplus in 1995 was 15 per cent of GDP.

This is where our challenge lies - to grow our services sector. And if we are to succeed as a regional hub, whether as a logistics, medical or education centre, then surely the surplus in our trade in services will expand. The regional market is so much larger.

Then our economic transformation requires nurturing our human capital. On the one end is the concern over a shortage in supply, given the dramatic decline in our fertility rate. Nothing less than a major overhaul of existing policies is required. A major study is now underway, with proposals expected before National Day.

At the other end is our ageing population and the demands on public finances. The Government has already made it clear that they intend to preserve our fiscal reserves in order to generate income for the future. So the principal sum is not to be used.

Given the many incentives dished out to encourage investments both at home and abroad, including cutting the corporate tax rate to one of the lowest in the world, there is naturally a limit to the resources now available for use.

Government revenue for FY2004 is projected to be just 16.6 per cent of GDP. Compare this with revenues equivalent to 30 plus per cent in the US and Japan, and around 50 per cent for European countries like Germany and France.

So the Government is reviewing the basis of setting university fees in the future. Health-care expenditure will also be re-examined; and means testing will be the principle used to determine the amount of subsidy given. The budget caps of all ministries (except Mindef) will be permanently cut by 2 per cent, with another 2 per cent cut in FY2005 likely.

Make no mistake, major changes are underway, and difficult choices will have to be made. You can't constantly reduce tax rates without cutting expenditure. And in this sense, the big disappointment of this year's Budget, postponing an expected 2-per-cent cut in the personal tax rate is the lesser evil. For the alternative of raising the GST and/or further cuts in the budgets of the education and health ministries to offset any unplanned revenue shortfalls will only hurt the larger sections of society.

And here's our gamble. By choosing to reduce revenue, we have a smaller shelter to offer those in need during a storm. But as we should become better adapted to tackle future storms and ride the recovery, so pain now should yield gain later.

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BUDGET 04 TEAM Coordinator: Ignatius Low
Editors: Linda Collins, Gordon Feeney
Designer: Carl Skadian
Sub-editors: Yeo Li Li, Lim Kok Wah, Leslie Koh
Writers: Chua Mui Hoong, Eddie Lee, Leong Chan Teik, Susan Long, Christopher Tan, Tammy Tan, Lee Su Shyan, Bryan Lee and Chia Sue-Ann.
Infographics: Lydia Lim, Edna Koh, Audrey Tan, Laurel Teo
Artists: Lee Chee Chew, Prudencio Miel Jr, Mike Dizon, Tien Chung Ping, Christian Inton, G. Chandradas

SingTel to launch Asia's first multiplayer mobile game

Agence France-Presse
Singapore, March 5

Singapore Telecommunications said on Friday it will launch Asia's first multiplayer mobile phone game that can locate several users within two kilometres (1.24 miles) and allow them to compete.

From Monday, SingTel mobile subscribers with Java-enabled phones will be able to use their devices to scan for other gamers within the vicinity and invite them to play the 'Gunslingers' game through short message service (SMS) or Java.

Points earned from winning against opponents can be redeemed for prizes such as mobile handsets.

The game costs 6.30 Singapore dollars per month for subscribers who choose to play using Java, and 21 cents per text message for those who play through SMS.

"By using SingTel's location positioning technology, gamers can turn Singapore into a virtual game arena," said SingTel vice-president of consumer products Hui Weng Cheong.

"This adds a new and exciting dimension to the current mobile gaming experience. We expect such location-based games titles to pick up in popularity in the near future."

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_600630,00030001.htm

Wealth-management hub boost for S'pore

Making foreign-sourced income remitted back to Republic tax-free puts it on par with rivals but actual impact is uncertain

By Edna Koh

SINGAPORE'S move to exempt from tax foreign-sourced income remitted back puts the Republic on the same footing as Malaysia and low-tax jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, say tax experts. It will also enhance the Republic's reputation as a wealth-management hub, and may lead to more funds being repatriated here. But just how big a boost the wealth-management industry would get is anyone's guess, as figures on the amount of assets that Singapore residents have overseas are not available.

On Friday, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced in his Budgetspeech that all foreign-sourced personal income remitted back to Singapore by individuals living here would be exempted from tax. Among the beneficiaries are those with property, bank accounts or investments overseas.

In the past, when rental, interest or dividend income was remitted back to Singapore, it would be taxed at the individual's top marginal tax rate - which for the rich, was as high as 22 per cent. Thus, so long as the Singapore-based individual had no immediate need for the money, it made sense to leave the assets offshore.

'Previously, Singapore was 'gifting' Hong Kong or Jersey investment funds from the domestic base,' said PricewaterhouseCoopers tax director Paula Eastwood. 'What Singapore has done is to set a tax framework that levels the playing field with other wealth-management centres, so that now, it is up to the marketplace to come up with products that attract people,' she said. With the latest tax proposal, 'Singapore has caught up with our neighbours and our chief rival Hong Kong', said KPMG director (tax services) B.J. Ooi.

When coupled with another announcement made during Friday's Budget - that all Singapore-sourced investment income derived directly by individuals from financial instruments will be exempt from tax - Singapore has made huge strides to become a more attractive wealth-management centre. 'We are quite positive that we should see the return of some funds,' said DBS Private Bank managing director Yeong Phick Fui.

However, SG Private Banking Asia-Pacific's chief executive, Mr Daniel Truchi, reckons that as a percentage of the total asset pool here, the assets that Singapore high net-worth individuals have overseas 'does not represent a large portion'. Thus, the removal of the disincentive for Singapore residents to remit offshore assets is unlikely to have a tremendous impact on the industry, he says, though it will enhance Singapore's reputation as a wealth-management centre.

Some fund managers are also not counting on a flood of assets flowing their way. Even in the past, it is unlikely that the rich chose to invest in funds offshore for tax reasons, as generally, unit trusts here have been structured so that income and gains from funds are not taxed, said First State Investments chief executive Lindsay Mann. 'I don't see compelling reasons for these high net-worth clients to move out of offshore funds to Singapore-domiciled funds. We can't see there being a material impact,' he said.

Clean S'pore 'could become a draw for dirty money'

A CANADIAN expert on money laundering has warned that Singapore's above-board, no-nonsense environment may, ironically, be 'conducive' to attracting proceeds from international criminal activities.

Mr Chris Mathers, a vice-president at the forensic investigation arm of accounting firm KPMG, said that the same factors which attract legitimate businessmen to Singapore can also attract criminals who launder money.

He said: 'They need a very strong financial system, they need an excellent communications system, they need a place where the politicians are not corruptible.

'They need a place where they know that if they put their money in one end, it will come out of the other.'

Mr Mathers was speaking recently at a breakfast seminar which was attended by members of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the police's Commercial Affairs Department and bank executives.

The former Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer had set up and operated 'storefront' money-laundering businesses in Canada and the United States over a 20-year career. These undercover operations targeted Colombian, Russian and Asian organised crime groups.

Money laundering involves the process of making money obtained from illegal activities appear legal through a series of financial transactions. Although the amount of money laundered around the world is not known, the International Monetary Fund has published an estimate of between US$590 billion (S$1 trillion) and US$1.5 trillion.

Mr Mathers said: 'We have in the course of our investigations become aware of a number of facts which relate to various jurisdictions, Singapore included. There is no country in the world which is not affected by and has not been involved in money laundering.'

Although financial regulators in Singapore want to be tough on money laundering, such activities are often hard to spot since financial transactions can be made between unwitting financial institutions and appear innocent.

Dirty money can even be 'cleaned' by a humble money-changer where small denominations can be changed into larger ones or cash converted into different currencies to make their origins harder to trace.

This is intresting.Changi Airport have plans to be a stakeholder in Mumbai/Delhi airport? :happy:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/553126.cms

The 'missing piece' in plan to win friends

Singapore is in talks to seal free-trade agreements with three Middle Eastern countries that it has few business links with. What's behind the lure of Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain? Senior Correspondent LYDIA LIM finds out

AS FAR as official records go, there is only one Singaporean working full-time in Jordan. Mr Peter Hee, 49, whose wife and two children remained at home when he relocated, does not even work for a Singapore firm. He is a project manager for a Japanese consultancy that is developing tourism-related projects in Jordan.

With Jordan set to be the first Middle Eastern country to have a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Singapore, Mr Hee's lonely Singaporean presence there gives you a sense of how much trade and business actually flows between the two countries - not much.

According to the most recent figures available, two-way trade in 2002 amounted to $45.6 million - a meagre 0.01 per cent of the Republic's total trade. Investments are virtually non-existent. It is likely that Mr Hee is also a pioneer in this area. He has sunk at least a few thousand dollars into a Singapore-style 'kopitiam' that he plans to open soon in Jordan's capital, Amman.

So why does Singapore want a free-trade deal with Jordan? Indeed, why Bahrain and Egypt too, the other Middle Eastern states with whom it will be negotiating FTAs? With these countries also, two-way trade is negligible.

One answer is that the value of the pacts cannot be measured in dollars and cents alone. They need to be seen in the context of a larger strategy to engage the Middle East, which Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong spelt out during his recent tour of the region. That was when he described the Middle East as the 'missing piece' in Singapore's overall plan to win friends worldwide. In a speech to the Singapore community in Cairo, he said: 'I think it is time to initiate closer contact.' Free-trade talks are a good way to kickstart the engagement process.

Analysts say closer ties with the Arab-Muslim countries will help to balance Singapore's traditionally strong ties with the West, in particular, the United States. As Assistant Professor Joseph Liow of the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies sees it, while Singapore will remain close to the US for the foreseeable future, 'it is in its interest to also send signals to the Muslim world - which is still suspicious of American foreign policy - that it is independent of Washington'.

And in the context of the global war against terrorism, closer ties with moderate Arab-Muslim countries like Jordan and Bahrain, and with Egypt which has a secular government, sends a useful message to two audiences. It registers to Singapore's Muslim community here and its Muslim-majority neighbours that 'while Singapore is against terrorism, it embraces moderate Islam', he added.

On the economic front, while there may be few immediate benefits to be reaped from the three FTAs, there is also a chance that new opportunities will open up that Singapore firms can take advantage of. Economist Nizam Idris of research house IDEAglobal described the FTA policy as 'positioning for future cooperation and business with these countries'. 'Singapore has nothing to lose,' he said.

The FTA policy has the support of the handful of Singapore firms already doing business in the region. It will raise Singapore's profile, said Mr Suresh Agarwal, regional business development director of information-technology firm CrimsonLogic. That is useful because the natural tendency of Middle Eastern countries is to turn to firms in the US or Europe for the goods or services they need.

'If Singapore gets visibility at the decision-makers' level, then when they make purchasing decisions, Singapore firms will also be there,' Mr Agarwal said. The region's main draw is the 'reasonably good margins' that companies can command, he added. Each of the three countries that Singapore is holding FTA talks with also has unique strengths.

Take Jordan, for example. Although a small economy, its value lies in being a good 'springboard' to other bigger markets in the region, in particular Iraq, said Mr Hee. That is where the post-war reconstruction effort is generating billions of dollars worth of new business in a whole range of goods and services, from construction to satellite dishes to coke-vending machines.

But as Baghdad is neither secure nor politically stable, firms trying to get a foothold in Iraq generally prefer to base their operations in Amman, a 3 1/2-hour drive from the Iraqi border. 'Jordan is the ideal place for companies to set up base. It is peaceful and relatively safe,' said Mr Hee, who has been based there since 2001.

As for Egypt, it is where one of the world's most important shipping thoroughfares - the Suez Canal - is located. And the Cairo government's current push to privatise the country's nine ports opens up opportunities for Singapore firms with expertise in port management. As for the trade in goods, Egypt is a potentially large market, being the second biggest economy in the Arab world with a population of about 75 million.

The hurdle, however, is its restrictive trade policy, which requires all goods entering the country to be imported from their country of origin. This makes it virtually impossible for goods from Singapore to gain entry as re-exports form the bulk of its trade.

Bahrain stands out as the most business-friendly of the three countries. Some Singapore firms, like exhibitions organiser CityNeon, have found its clean and modern capital Manama to be an ideal base from which to sell their services to the neighbouring Gulf states.

But while there are opportunities, there are also pitfalls to watch out for when venturing into the Middle East. The first thing to note is that business is based on relationships, or what is known as the wasta system. What it means is that jobs or contracts are often awarded not based on what the person or firm knows, but on who they know. So Singapore companies will need to invest time cultivating relationships with those in charge, said businessmen with experience in the region.

Other obstacles that they will need to navigate through include excessive red tape, less than transparent laws and corruption within the government ranks, although some countries, like Jordan, are now taking steps to clean up their systems.

Be wary, too, of the region's 'IBM' - an acronym frustrated foreigners use to describe the less-than-satisfactory work attitude of some Middle Easterners. When asked to do something, their response is likely to be one of three: Inshallah (God willing), Bukra (tomorrow) or Maleesh (never mind). The result - not much gets done. Said one Singaporean who lived in Cairo for five years: 'It's well known that this culture permeates the region.'

But there are ways to change this attitude, said Mr Hee, who trained some Jordanian engineers he worked with. For example, he gave them a taste of their own medicine - he refused to budge when they needed him to do something and they learnt their lesson. He admits his first three months in Jordan were difficult, but, eventually, he learnt to take the local ways in his stride. 'I hated it at first but this place grows on you,' he said.

Small is beautiful for cross-border bank mergers

By Hugh Chow

A TOP executive at ratings agency Moody's Investors Service yesterday warned that cross-border mergers are not always a good idea - although there could be some advantage for smaller countries like Singapore.

The comments from Moody's global coordinator for bank ratings, Mr Sam Theodore, during an address in Singapore, come at a time when the Republic's local banks are looking to buy other banks within the region.

He told an audience of leading figures from finance, business and government yesterday that some mergers between banks in different countries do not 'make economic sense', especially mega-mergers which create global giants.

'We don't buy the argument to just merge for sheer size and scale,' said London-based Mr Theodore, who was addressing a breakfast seminar organised by the Institute of Policy Studies.

The Moody's managing director pointed to regional savings banks in Spain as examples of some of the strongest banks operating in the Mediterranean country.

'Being small is not a weakness,' he said.

But he also reckoned that a case for cross-border acquisitions could be made for banks operating in small domestic markets such as Singapore, where buying a ready-made client base can create benefits from economies of scale and opportunities for the cross-selling of financial products.

A sceptic of mega-mergers of the type rumoured between Germany's Deutsche Bank and London-based HSBC, he saw more sense in an established European bank looking for smaller acquisitions in the emerging markets of central and eastern Europe.

Mr Theodore helps set the criteria by which banks are rated at the influential credit ratings agency and ensures that ratings committees around the world stick to set guidelines.

Credit ratings agencies rate borrowers in the international debt markets on how likely they will default on repayment obligations linked to bond and other debt issues.

Borrowers which raise money this way include companies, financial institutions and countries.

Moody's ratings are used by potential investors to judge the risk profile of these borrowers, and these ratings will affect the cost of borrowing.

Over the past few years, Singapore banks have been looking for new markets within the region in the face of increasing competition at home.

In 2001, DBS Group Holdings expanded its foothold in Hong Kong when it bought Dao Heng Bank. More recently, United Overseas Bank was named as a suitor for Thailand's Bank of Asia.

Singapore Jan retail sales seen up on Lunar New Year
Reuters
Singapore, March 12

Singapore's retail sales are estimated to have risen in the 12 months ended January, partly because consumers crammed shops and restaurants during the Lunar New Year holidays.

But a survey of analysts on Friday found that a slowdown in car sales and a hike in consumption tax in the new year could restrain rises in the retail sales index compared to December.

Eight analysts polled expected retail sales to rise a median 8.95 per cent over January 2003. Estimates were wide, ranging between a contraction of 10 per cent and a gain of 12.5 per cent.

The latest estimate for the extremely volatile data will be released on Monday at 1 pm (0500 GMT).

In month-on-month terms, a smaller number of analysts provided forecasts but they showed retail sales adjusted for seasonal patterns could fall marginally by 0.1 per cent in January from December.

"Historically, January would see stronger sales with or without Chinese New Year," said Suan Teck Kin, economist with OCBC Bank, adding that sales typically weaken in February.

The Lunar New Year fell on January 22 this year and is celebrated over 15 days. The same festival occured in early February last year.

Retail sales advanced last year, due almost entirely to a splurge in car buying, which accounts for much of the city state's retail trade.

Bolstered by a recovering economy, the index has been higher than a year earlier in every month since April, when the deadly SARS virus had its greatest effect on spending.

But retail sales have fluctuated from month to month over the past year.

In December the retail sales index was up 9.7 per cent on the same month a year earlier, and also rose 5.2 per cent on November after adjusting for seasonal patterns. Sales were pushed up by last-minute spending ahead of the consumption tax hike and due to aggressive sales efforts by retailers.

The Singapore government raised its goods and services tax by one percentage point to five percent on January 1, 2004.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_612085,00020008.htm

In the run-up to Christmas, retailers reported strong sales of such items as home entertainment systems, digital equipment and electronic appliances.

Thats a cool sig drwho! I think its a good idea for us to make full use of the sig to have something interesting:)

Spreading wings - let's do what Swiss did in US

13 March 2004

It will boost overseas investments and FTA portfolio, improve regional tie-ups and help local firms and workers venture abroad

By Soh Wen Lin

SINGAPORE is taking a multi-pronged approach to charge up the growth of its external wing, a move that will allow the economy to grow far beyond the limitations set by the relatively small domestic market.

In outlining the ambition yesterday, Trade and Industry Minister George Yeo identified three main planks: Growing overseas investments and Singapore's portfolio of free trade agreements (FTAs), improving regional partnerships and helping local firms and young workers to venture abroad.

He said that if Singaporeans fan out in larger numbers, 'our gross national product in 10 years' time will be significantly greater than our gross domestic product'.

'Like what the Dutch and the Swiss were able to do in America in an earlier era, we will be able to bequeath to future generations of Singaporeans a sizeable external portfolio.'

The portfolio is growing. In the past decade, Singapore's direct investments overseas rose from $22 billion in 1992 to $146 billion, said BG (NS) Yeo.

Its growing portfolio of FTAs will also keep trade activity buzzing. Singapore has FTAs with the United States, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the European Free Trade Association.

In all, they account for more than 27 per cent of Singapore's domestic trade.

What's proving most useful about the FTAs, said BG Yeo, is that they protect Singapore from political developments overseas, other than creating jobs and enticing investors.

For example, when the US slashed its quota of work visas for professionals from 195,000 to 65,000 this year, Singapore was buffered from the change because it had been promised 5,400 such visas in the FTA.

And when the outsourcing of US government contracts to foreign companies was forbidden, Singapore was again exempted.

An Indian businessman even told Mr Yeo that he was considering moving his firm's operations to Singapore because of the exemption.

With closer neighbours, relations are stronger too, he said.

In China, the 10-year-old Suzhou Industrial Park, is now 'an icon of Singapore's good political and economic relations' with Asia's booming economy.

Links with other provinces are growing as well.

But it is in Vietnam where Singapore tops the list of foreign investors. It will get a further boost with the impending formation of a joint economic investment agency to attract investments that will be distributed in both countries.

Ties with Indonesia are also blossoming, with provinces such as Riau, West Sumatra and Jambi eager to forge closer economic links.

South Sumatra and Jambi have set up representative offices here in Singapore and West Sumatra is looking to follow suit.

India has Singapore squarely in its sights too as it looks east. The top 20 Indian software companies are here. Bilcare, a drug packaging company, is investing $20 million here to set up a factory with research facilities, and will use the plant to reach out to the region.

'Think about it! We, with high costs, attracting Indian investments in manufacturing!' said BG Yeo, referring to India's traditional cost advantages in land and labour costs.

But the effort to grow Singapore's external wing also has to come from its many companies and individuals, he said.

Even in this, the Government will help. It organises trade missions and FTA workshops, and helps to organise social and business networking clubs for overseas Singaporeans.

In inviting companies here to go abroad, BG Yeo said: 'Yes, there are risks, but the rewards can also be great.'

raffie! thnxs :happy:

lets hope that indian IT-firms start to invest heavy in Singapore this year :):)

Originally posted by huaiwei

Wow....it would be cool if they actually replied! :D

Well ..huaiwei they didnt reply :);)

But i found another Singapore firm ,Cesma International that will send us photos on the skyscraperproject in Hyderabad.

found some small pics here :
http://www.cesmaindia.com

http://www.cesmainternational.com/



:)

VSNL sets up arm in Singapore


Press Trust of India in Mumbai
Published : March 15, 2004

In line with its plans of becoming a global major, internet gateway and service provider Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) has set up a wholly owned subsidiary in Singapore, VSNL Singapore PTE Ltd, to facilitate the landing of cable in that country.

“The subsidiary will be involved with the operations of Tata Indicom’s Chennai-Singapore submarine cable, which will be lighted up by the fourth quarter of 2004,” VSNL sources said here today.

The company, set up on lines of VSNL’s Sri Lanka (VSNL Lanka Ltd), US (VSNL America Inc) and Europe subsidiaries, would also be involved with the company’s other plans, including wholesaling and retailing of bandwidth in that country.

The subsidiary, which came into being by February-end, would also help VSNL tap other markets in the region and expand to newer geographies across the world, he said.

Singapore had emerged as one of the four bandwidth hubs in the world and was the only location that serviced the international traffic for countries between Europe and the western coast of the US, he said.

With most of the developing countries lying in this region, Singapore is the prefered destination for all major undersea cables to either distribute or aggregate traffic for entire Asia-Pacific region, including Australia and New Zealand, he added.

VSNL is also seeking an external gateway operator licence, which would help the Tata Group company to sell full circuits instead of the existing business model of selling half-circuits.

The full-circuit model is expected to increase the revenue of the company, he said.

Tata Indicom Chennai-Singapore cable system is scheduled to be ready for service by this fall, he said.

Tyco Telecommunications is VSNL's partner for the 3,175 km cable system, which has an initial capacity of 320 gbps and ability to scale up to 5.12 tbps.

With an estimated operating lifespan of 25 years, the new cable will connect chennai to singapore, from where it would be extended to us and other geographies.

VSNL had also tied-up with Asia Netcom for setting up a landing station in singapore.

Originally posted by drwho

Singapore had emerged as one of the four bandwidth hubs in the world and was the only location that serviced the international traffic for countries between Europe and the western coast of the US, he said.

With most of the developing countries lying in this region, Singapore is the prefered destination for all major undersea cables to either distribute or aggregate traffic for entire Asia-Pacific region, including Australia and New Zealand, he added.

With an estimated operating lifespan of 25 years, the new cable will connect chennai to singapore, from where it would be extended to us and other geographies.

VSNL had also tied-up with Asia Netcom for setting up a landing station in singapore.

Thats great news drwho! :okay:

Originally posted by RafflesCity

Thats great news drwho! :okay:

yeap sure is!:)

Singapore has achived its goal to be a fiber optic hub for asia and Singtel will also handle the telecom/data-traffic to the olympic games from/to EU<--->Asia
:)

Originally posted by drwho

Well ..huaiwei they didnt reply :);)

But i found another Singapore firm ,Cesma International that will send us photos on the skyscraperproject in Hyderabad.

found some small pics here :
http://www.cesmaindia.com

http://www.cesmainternational.com/



:) Excellent! I wonder if they will require u to conform to copyright rules thou? :eek:

Originally posted by huaiwei

Excellent! I wonder if they will require u to conform to copyright rules thou? :eek:

yeah ..the copyright-issue still is a problem to solve. I dunno if it should be set by SSC<->Cesma or if it is the poster<->Cesma.
:)

Raffles to operate luxury Caribbean resort

By Lorna Tan

THANKS to its international brandname, Raffles International recently beat off top-notch hotel operators such as Dallas-based Rosewood Hotels and Resorts to win a contract to operate a luxury resort in the exotic Caribbean.

Raffles will join Italian developer Canouan Resorts Development and high-profile hotel tycoon Donald Trump in turning Canouan, one of the least-developed Caribbean islands, in St Vincent and the Grenadines, into a luxury playground for wealthy holidaymakers.

Raffles chief executive Jennie Chua said: 'This is a prime example of how we use brand equity to put together partners to build a resort and a casino, without us sinking in a dime. It is testimony to the strength of our homegrown Raffles brand, and the confidence that third parties have in our hotel and resort management know-how.'

Canouan Resorts Development's chairman, Mr Antonio Saladino, attributed the awarding of the contract to the 'strong appeal of the Raffles brand' in the world of luxury travel. Leveraging on brand equity has enabled Raffles to shift away from the conventional growth strategy in the hotel industry of growing a name by buying and owning hotels.

Last April, it decided to pursue an asset-light strategy. Its new goal is to achieve expansion through winning contracts to manage hotels, though if the need arises it would take ownership stakes of not more than a fifth.

The contract to manage the 156-room Raffles Resort Canouan Island is the fourth deal that Raffles has signed in five months. It also brings up the number of management contracts in its 36-hotel portfolio to 22.

As part of the Caribbean deal, Raffles will also manage a championship 18-hole golf course that will be situated within the resort and the food and beverage outlets in a casino that will be near the resort. Mr Trump will manage the Trump Club Privee Casino, as well as spearhead the island's villa real estate development.

Singapore still Vietnam's biggest foreign investor

The Republic's $12.7 billion worth of strategic foreign investments into the country puts it ahead of Taiwan

By Hugh Chow

VIETNAM is proving to be another hot Asian investment destination for Singapore companies. They poured around US$50 million (S$85.7 million) into the country last year - which meant that the Republic maintained its position as Vietnam's single-biggest source of foreign direct investment.

Strategic foreign investments from Singapore totalled US$7.4 billion (S$12.7 billion) at the end of last year, rising 0.7 per cent from US$7.35 billion a year earlier. The latest investment figures were disclosed yesterday at the Singapore-Vietnam Business Forum 2004, which was coordinated by the Singapore Business Federation.

A Vietnamese delegation led by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai attended the one-day conference which attracted around 200 businessmen from Singapore who were keen to learn more about investment opportunities in Vietnam. The governments of both countries hope that more investment from Singapore will flow to Vietnam - whose economy grew by 7.2 per cent last year - as the Republic's small domestic market restrict the growth of homegrown enterprises.

Singapore is the biggest investor in Vietnam ahead of Taiwan, and accounts for about 18 per cent of total approved foreign investments. Bilateral trade between Singapore and Vietnam last year was worth nearly $6 billion - almost double the $3.03 billion recorded in 1996.

Foreign businessmen describe Vietnam as being at the same stage of economic development that China was 10 to 15 years ago. Like China, Vietnam is a communist country that introduced its own version of economic reforms - or Doi Moi - nearly two decades ago.

But progress made under Doi Moi has been uneven, with many inefficient state-owned enterprises still enjoying preferential treatment under protectionist policies despite renewed efforts to tackle the issue. In his keynote speech yesterday, Mr Khai said: 'Your success is our success, and we will continue to create favourable conditions for your investment projects in Vietnam.'

Singapore companies and other firms with links to the Republic took the opportunity at the conference to announce new business agreements in Vietnam. For example, PSB Corp signed a $1-million deal with a subsidiary of Singapore-based Cetana Corp to set up a school in the Vietnamese commercial centre of Ho Chi Minh City. The school will offer PSB-designed certificate and diploma courses in subjects like travel and tourism, and hospitality management which award students credits for degree courses overseas.

SembCorp Logistics plans to set up a $250,000 venture with SGN Logistics and Trading to provide supply chain management services to firms in Vietnam, which are expected to manufacture more goods for export.

Meanwhile, the Singapore unit of Japanese software company Zentek Technology Group signed a business cooperation agreement with Vina-Mobi Joint Stock Company worth US$10 million over five years to set up a mobile phone manufacturing plant. The deal was helped by an initiative between Singapore's Economic Development Board and Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment, which offers fast-track regulatory approval to foreign firms wanting to do business in both countries.

Motorola shuts S'pore chip ops

MOBILE phone giant Motorola is moving its chip design units in Singapore and Taiwan to India and China as part of an effort to consolidate its chip design operations in the Asia-Pacific region. About 50 employees, half of them based in Singapore, will be affected by the move that is expected to be completed by the end of this month. But these workers, who were informed of the move last week, may not lose their jobs, said the United States-based company yesterday, as they could be redeployed to other parts of the firm.

The move will mark the end of Motorola's semiconductor operations in Singapore but the company will continue to have a significant presence here. Motorola's local operations, which had humble beginnings with just six employees in 1973, have seen robust growth.

Singapore is now the headquarters for its Asian operations, and employs more than 2,200 workers. Its mobile-phone factory in Ang Mo Kio is one of five plants in the world, along with Brazil, China, Germany and Mexico. Just four months ago, Motorola announced plans to set up a global parts procurement centre here which is expected to handle $3 billion in transactions annually.

A spokesman for the firm's regional semiconductor operations yesterday said that apart from lower costs, the consolidation would improve the efficiency of the company's design process. 'We want to streamline our design process to accelerate the designs of our products.'

Motorola currently employs about 1,000 chip design engineers in four countries in the region. India and China are where the company has located its biggest chip design operations in the region. Its headquarters are in Hong Kong. The spokesman said the firm had no intention currently to further consolidate its regional chip design operations.

Singapore economy roars! :guns1:

Stronger exports to China, Europe boost Singapore recovery
Associated Press
Singapore, March 17

Singapore's non-oil exports jumped 25.7 per cent last month from a year earlier, showing that the island's economic recovery is gathering momentum, the government said on Wednesday.

Non-oil exports, a key barometer of Singapore's economic health, rose to 9.7 billion Singapore dollars ($5.7 billion) in February, said International Enterprise Singapore, the government trade agency.

Exports of goods such as chemicals and computer chips to the United States fell 5.6 per cent from a year earlier, but other key markets more than compensated. Shipments to China grew 71.3 per cent while exports to the European Union rose 50.4 per cent from a year earlier, the agency said.

"It was a good set of numbers, the growth momentum is stronger than expected," United Overseas Bank economist Low Ping Yee said. China bought more disk drives and computer chips, boosting electronics exports by 90 per cent in February from a year earlier, while non-electronics exports to China -- mostly petrochemicals, primary chemicals, and heating and cooling equipment -- grew 63 per cent.

Pharmaceutical exports were the main factor behind a 90.4 per cent rise in non-electronics exports to Europe, the agency said. Singapore's total trade grew 22.1 per cent to S$41 billion ($24.1 billion) in February from a year earlier, following a 7.9 per cent on-year rise in January.

The wealthy Southeast Asian city-state is struggling to climb out of its worst economic downturn since gaining independence in 1965.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_622889,00020008.htm