DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 25 Nov 2020 (Wed)

Singapore Real Estate

Asia-Pac’s stubbornly-high property prices may correct next year
There are growing concerns that a market correction may be on the cards next year for Asia-Pacific (Apac) real estate, which has stayed resilient despite the Covid-19 pandemic. A regional forecast report by non-profit education and research institute Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PwC released on Tuesday noted that the Covid-19 outbreak has had a limited impact on local real estate markets this year.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/asia-pacs-stubbornly-high-property-prices-may-correct-next-year

Pair of adjoining shophouses along Bukit Pasoh Rd up for sale with S$35m guide price
At least three shophouses along Bukit Pasoh Road have been put up for sale in the past week, as the stream of shophouses going on the market shows no sign of slowing. The latest are a pair of adjoining shophouses, 44 and 46 Bukit Pasoh Road, located near Outram Park MRT, which have been put up for sale with a guide price of S$35 million, property consultancy Knight Frank Singapore said in a press statement on Monday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/pair-of-adjoining-shophouses-along-bukit-pasoh-rd-up-for-sale-with-s35m-guide-price

JTC launches Jalan Papan industrial site for application
JTC on Tuesday launched an industrial site at Jalan Papan (Plot 5) for application. The land plot spans 0.56 hectare and has a 20-year tenure. It has a gross plot ratio of 1.4 and is zoned B2 for heavy industrial use. The land plot is the last of three reserve list sites for the second half of the 2020 industrial government land sales programme.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/jtc-launches-jalan-papan-industrial-site-for-application

Correction looming for ‘stubbornly high’ real estate prices in APAC
There are growing concerns that a market correction may be on the cards next year for Asia-Pacific (APAC) real estate, which has thus far been resilient amid the coronavirus pandemic, particularly when compared to Western markets.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/correction-looming-for-stubbornly-high-real-estate-prices-in-apac

Singapore Economy

MAS rolls out world’s first green loan grant scheme
Companies of all sizes will get more support in securing green and sustainability-linked loans with a new grant scheme launched by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) yesterday. The initiative, called the Green and Sustainability-Linked Loan Grant Scheme, is a world first and will start in January next year, said MAS.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/mas-rolls-out-worlds-first-green-loan-grant-scheme
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/mas-launches-grant-to-drive-adoption-of-sustainable-financing

Retailers’ reliance on local demand may not be sustainable: Survey
Despite the pandemic, about one in two retailers in Singapore still experienced higher sales from September to October this year than last year, but banking on local demand may not be sustainable. That is according to an American Express survey released on Monday that surveyed 300 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore with annual revenues of $100 million or less.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/retailers-reliance-on-local-demand-may-not-be-sustainable-survey

Global economic recovery from pandemic entering critical period, says MAS chief
Singapore (Bloomberg) – The global economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic is heading into a critical period as nations balance the need to prop up consumers and businesses against the threat of unmanageable debt, Singapore’s central bank chief said.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/global-economic-recovery-from-pandemic-entering-critical-period-says-mas-chief

Time is ripe to produce new generation of MNCs: Chan
Singapore has a “historic opportunity” to turn more local companies into global champions, said Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing. As more of such companies emerge, they will create better jobs for Singaporeans and uplift small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to become global in their own right, he added.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/time-is-ripe-to-produce-new-generation-of-mncs-chan

Chan Chun Sing urges more countries to adopt shared travel protocol
More countries should put in place a shared framework for safe travel amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing said. “We hope that such a protocol will be adopted and accepted by more countries… to reduce the need for (a) long-term quarantine period that is really disrupting the business travel,” he told a trade show for the Mice (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) industry.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/chan-chun-sing-urges-more-countries-to-adopt-shared-travel-protocol

Companies’ Brief

Mapletree to invest over S$550m in jumbo logistics site in Japan
Property giant Mapletree Investments has entered the Kyushu logistics market by acquiring a prime plot about the size of 15 football fields – 116,319 square metres (sq m) or nearly 1.3 million square feet (sq ft). In a press statement on Tuesday, Mapletree said it will develop two blocks of Grade A four-storey, double ramp-way logistics facilities on the site over the next four years. They will have a combined gross floor area of 231,648 sq m or about 2.5 million sq ft.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/mapletree-to-invest-over-s550m-in-jumbo-logistics-site-in-japan
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/mapletree-buys-13-million-sq-ft-site-in-japan-for-warehouse-facilities

Investors would be better served if IFAs were to widen the scope of their advice
Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance, as the independent financial adviser (IFA) on Sabana Reit’s proposed merger with ESR-Reit, stated in its terms of reference that it was not required to “express any advice or give any opinion on the merits of the merger relative to any other alternative”.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/investors-would-be-better-served-if-ifas-were-to-widen-the-scope-of-their-advice

Cromwell E-Reit to acquire logistics park in Italy for 52.6m euros
Cromwell European Real Estate Investment Trust (Cromwell E-Reit) has entered into an agreement via a wholly-owned vehicle to acquire a logistics park in Italy for 52.6 million euros (S$84.2 million).
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/cromwell-e-reit-to-acquire-logistics-park-in-italy-for-526m-euros

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

E-payments the key to powering a smart nation
Fintech is thriving in Singapore. Enabled by a supportive regulatory environment and nurtured by government policies, this small city-nation boasts some of the most innovative solutions in the modern world – but it was not always this way.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/e-payments-the-key-to-powering-a-smart-nation

Prudent decision to defer travel bubble
Following a stretch of more than 10 days without Covid-19 community cases here and positive updates on vaccine developments internationally, the Hong Kong-Singapore two-way travel bubble – heralded as the world’s first and set to take flight last Sunday – looked to be a welcome step in the resumption of leisure travel by air.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/prudent-decision-to-defer-travel-bubble

20 new councillors appointed to Central Singapore CDC
Amid the travails of Singapore’s drawn-out battle against the Covid-19 pandemic this year, there emerged a silver lining for Dr Noel Yeo. As senior vice-president at Parkway Pantai, he was in the thick of various operations, including the transfer of patients to the four private hospitals in the Parkway chain to free up public facilities.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/20-new-councillors-appointed-to-central-singapore-cdc

Events sector gearing up to help Republic retain its edge
With several pilot events under way and others to come, Singapore’s meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (Mice) industry is gearing up to ensure that the Republic retains its position as a leading Mice hub.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/events-sector-gearing-up-to-help-republic-retain-its-edge

Look beyond traditional 60/40 portfolio into alternative assets, says JP Morgan study
Central bank intervention through the Covid-19 crisis is likely to prove successful in cushioning the pandemic’s economic shock. But the fiscal and monetary support measures are set to have lasting implications on asset markets, says JP Morgan Asset Management’s (JPMAM) latest annual edition of its Long Term Capital Market Assumptions (LTCMA) for 2021.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/wealth-investing/look-beyond-traditional-6040-portfolio-into-alternative-assets-says-jp-morgan-study

Will digital banking licences increase credit access here?
Singapore is expected to issue up to five digital banking licences by the end of the year. One of the requirements that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will be evaluating the digital banking licence applicants on, is the incorporation of “innovative use of technology to serve customer needs and reach under-served segments of the Singapore market”.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/wealth-investing/will-digital-banking-licences-increase-credit-access-here

Update on COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) Situation

18 new imported cases; none in community for 14th straight day
There were 18 new coronavirus cases announced yesterday, all of which were imported, including 13 who are foreign domestic workers. There were also no active Covid-19 clusters for the first time since Feb 3, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) yesterday.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/18-new-imported-cases-none-in-community-for-14th-straight-day

Managing pandemic top priority: DPM
Managing the pandemic remains Singapore’s first priority, even as economic activities gradually resume, said Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat yesterday. Pointing at how a resurgence in Covid-19 cases in other countries has posed difficulties for their economic recovery, he said the question of whether to save lives or livelihoods amid the pandemic is not binary.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/managing-pandemic-top-priority-dpm
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/relook-training-job-design-to-address-workers-covid-19-stresses-dpm
*For more information, please visit the Ministry of Health (MOH) website at www.moh.gov.sg and refer to go.gov.sg/mohupdates for updates on the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) situation