This is some blog description about this site
Mounting global uncertainties, rising interest rates and lacklustre business and consumer sentiment mean the Singapore economy is in for another slow year in 2017.
But economists say there are glimmers of hope amid the gloom, particularly in some segments of manufacturing as well as up-and-coming industries like technology.
The Singapore economy grew "one plus per cent" last year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in his New Year message on Saturday.
In Q2 2016, there were hopes among sellers and developers that property prices had bottomed out. After the big price drops in Q3 2016 however, and continued sluggishness in the past month, it seems apparent that we may not have hit rock bottom yet. This is good news for home buyers, who will continue to see rising affordability. Investors, however, may find their holding power tested.
[SINGAPORE] Yes, you heard it right - Singapore's home prices are set to make a comeback after a three-year losing streak. And analysts think property developer stocks are the best way to play that rebound.
Amid a restructuring push to boost a slowing economy, the government could signal its intention to reconsider property cooling measures as early as the budget speech in February, Carmen Lee, head of research at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp said in an interview.
Steps are being taken to make the high speed rail connecting Singapore to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia a reality. A memorandum of understanding has already been signed by the prime ministers of both the countries. It is expected that the rail link will be ready for use by the year of 2026. This can certainly reduce the travel times between the cities significantly. At the same time, it is certain to have other effects on both the countries.
As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office in January, one challenge looms large: China and its expanding role in the vital Asia-Pacific region. The incoming Administration will need to develop a long-term Pacific strategy—which ultimately eluded President Obama’s team.
Creating a long-term policy toward China will be difficult: Trump’s recent questioning of the venerable “one China” policy and China’s vigorous reaction illustrates the hypersensitivity in Beijing. There is certainly leeway to change and clarify policy, but rocking the boat without a strategic plan—as Trump did by taking a call from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen—has already resulted in ominous pronouncements by China.
Singapore is known worldwide as an entrepreneurial haven for many years because of its strategic tax exemption scheme, solid financing options, friendly business regulations, and growth-driven programs being provided by the government for business owners and entrepreneurs.
But as economic forecasts for the country in 2016 weave a patchwork of opportunities and challenges, should small business owners worry about treading a blurry future?
According to Business Monitor International, Singapore is a low risk destination for investment; marking Singapore as a market to be a place with many opportunities for trade. Thanks to its extensive trade agreements, limited tariffs; not to mention the substantial trade flows the country receives due to its key geographic position, Singapore has certainly become a good place to invest and plant a business.
Additionally the Singaporean government actively encourages foreign investment, as the soaring levels of FDI highlight. The Business Monitor has given Singapore a Trade and Investment risk score of 92.2, putting the country first in both the regional and global view, and placing Singapore ahead of contender Hong Kong which scored an 87.8 regarding Trade and Investment Risk.
Singapore’s oldest satellite town has kept up with the times and seen many modern developments spring up across it. But even it progresses, pockets of history are still visible throughout the estate, and it is this mix of old and new that attracts many to Queenstown.
Singapore may be only 51 years old, but its history began much earlier than 1965. And as the country’s oldest satellite town, Queenstown has certainly seen plenty of changes over the years.
Mega office deals helped drive foreign investment in local real estate to its highest level since 2007.
About $8.85 billion from overseas has been pumped into Singapore property so far this year - the best result since the $15.27 billion outlay in 2007, before the global financial crisis hit.
Analysts say the pace of foreign investment could well carry over into next year, depending on how the economy fares.
The global economy has been growing more slowly ever since the 2008 financial crisis. As the world's population ages, developed countries are struggling to replace the so-called baby boomer generation as they retire. Slowing productivity growth hasn’t helped the problem as workers aren’t becoming as productive as economists hoped. These dynamics have made it increasingly difficult for international investors to realize historical rates of return.
How big of a deal is China?
Just ask Tata Steel , Vale , Rio Tinto . The list is long of steel makers and iron ore exporters that have been crushed by Chinese oversupply.
About 15,000 British jobs are at risk if India-owned Tata Steel cannot find a buyer for its U.K. plants, including the heavily loss-making Port Talbot works in South Wales, the WSJ reported on March 31. The company said it wanted out of the U.K. after roughly 10 years of losing money there thanks to the influx of cheap China steel.
Foreigners are jumping back into the private residential property market here in greater numbers, with buyers from China consolidating their position as the top buying group.
In a new report, property consultancy JLL said there were 782 transactions by foreigners in the first nine months of this year, an 11.7 per cent surge year on year. The figure excludes permanent residents.
Cooling measures sent Singapore's housing market into a long hibernation, but some analysts point to signs of a spring awakening in sales volume, if not yet prices.
Tan Min Lan, head of the Asia Pacific investment office for UBS Wealth Management, said the bank had been bearish on Singapore property prices for "quite a few years."
But that was changing, she said.
Once at the heart of the global spice trade, Malacca is pumping nearly $3 billion into an ambitious plan to put itself in demand in a different hot commodity - oil.
The Malaysian state is reclaiming land along the Straits of Malacca to build a port that can handle the biggest tankers on the planet. The target: a slice of traffic sailing on to nearby Singapore, the top but congested trading hub in a region with $600 billion in annual oil trade - a third of global oil demand.
Thanks to a housing boom and government spending.
China‘s factory output and retail sales grew faster than expected in August as a strong housing market and a government infrastructure spending spree underpinned growth in the world’s second-largest economy.
Industrial output grew the fastest in five months as demand for products from coal to cars rebounded, though analysts warned the outlook is clouded by weakness in manufacturing investment and a lack of spending by private firms.
For Southeast Asia, the slowdown of China’s economy may have a bigger economic impact than the British vote to leave the European Union.
China’s government reported the country’s economy expanded at 6.7 percent in the first three months of this year. That is high compared to many countries. However, it is the lowest increase of its Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, since early 2009. GDP is a measure of the monetary value of all goods and services produced in a country.
Joseph Incalcaterra is an economist with the British bank HSBC.
The China Syndrome
China’s size and promise have long enthralled the world.
SINGAPORE sits at one end of four of the world's 10 busiest international air routes, it has been revealed. This boosts the country's aspiration to be Asia's key aviation hub despite the economic downturn. But experts said Changi faces tough competition from other airports in the region, especially from Hong Kong airport, which features in five of the top 10 routes.
The busiest route, based on last year's passenger numbers, is Hong Kong-Taipei. This is followed by Jakarta-Singapore.
Kuala Lumpur-Singapore, Hong Kong-Singapore and Bangkok-Singapore are also on the top 10 list.
Study shows Singapore as only Asian country able to break western dominance
Singapore is tops in Asia for its ability to transform itself in the face of digital disruptions, said a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Well-known "disruptions" include car-sharing app Uber affecting the taxi industry and streaming site Netflix changing traditional TV.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has imposed a cap on the number of carpark spaces that can be built on a site - the first time it has made such a provision.
