DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 28 Oct 2020 (Wed)

Singapore Real Estate

Rare 117,000 sq ft Dist 9 site up for sale after passing of matriarch
A plum freehold landed residential site in District 9 is expected to be put on the market in a few months. The plot, at 5 Oxley Rise, has a land area of 117,230 sq ft. It is owned by seven members of the Cheong family, all sons of Hong Fok Corporation and Tian Teck group’s late founder Cheong Eak Chong. Tian Teck group is one of Singapore’s oldest developers; among other properties, it developed International Plaza in Anson Road.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/rare-117000-sq-ft-dist-9-site-up-for-sale-after-passing-of-matriarch

Four strata office units in Paya Lebar Square up for sale with S$23.5m guide price
Four adjoining strata office units located on the ninth storey of Paya Lebar Square have been put up for sale with a guide price of S$23.5 million. This translates to an average price of S$2,179 per square foot (sq ft) based on a strata area of about 10,785 sq ft, exclusive marketing agent Savills Singapore said on Tuesday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/four-strata-office-units-in-paya-lebar-square-up-for-sale-with-s235m-guide-price

JTC, URA launch sites in Tampines, Sembawang, Farrer Park
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Tuesday launched a residential with commercial site for tender, and JTC launched two industrial land plots – one via tender and another for application. The URA put up the site on Northumberland Road, near Farrer Park, for sale via public tender. The plot is zoned residential with commercial on the first storey and spans 8,732.9 square metres (sq m).
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/jtc-ura-launch-sites-in-tampines-sembawang-farrer-park
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/ura-offers-farrer-park-site-for-tender-jtc-puts-up-two-industrial-plots

Singapore Economy

More research funding to be allocated to develop digital economy: DPM Heng
Singapore will allocate a bigger chunk of national research funding to develop the digital economy as it is “going to be critical for the future”, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat said at the Fortune Global Forum on Tuesday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/more-research-funding-to-be-allocated-to-develop-digital-economy-dpm-heng
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/spore-to-spend-more-on-digital-economy-in-next-rd-plan

Logistics industry creates over 2,100 openings; 1,500 jobs to come in next 5 years
More than 2,100 openings were available in the logistics industry as at end-September, of which more than 60 per cent were jobs, and the rest, traineeships and attachments and opportunities for training. Figures from Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) latest weekly jobs situation report released on Tuesday indicated that the majority of the jobs (64 per cent) were in non-PMET (professional, manager, executive and technician) roles such as transport clerks, transport specialists and freight coordinators.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/logistics-industry-creates-over-2100-openings-1500-jobs-to-come-in-next-5-years
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/spore-strengthens-edge-in-logistics-amid-pandemic

Three ways to bolster S’pore’s status as logistics hub
Singapore will continue to strengthen its status as an international business hub and improve its attractiveness to global logistics players, Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing said yesterday. Speaking to the media after a visit to German logistics firm DB Schenker’s Red Lion facility at the Airport Logistics Park in Changi, he outlined three ways the Republic will do so:
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/three-ways-to-bolster-spores-status-as-logistics-hub

Companies’ Brief

AIMS Apac Reit cuts Q2 DPU by 20% on lower net property income
Aims Apac Reit’s distribution per unit (DPU) fell by 20 per cent to two Singapore cents for its second quarter ended Sept 30, from 2.5 cents a year ago. This was mainly due to lower net property income (NPI), management fees being paid fully in cash for the quarter, as well as having an amount reserved for distribution to perpetual securities holders, the real estate investment trust’s (Reit) manager said in a bourse filing on Tuesday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/aims-apac-reit-cuts-q2-dpu-by-20-on-lower-net-property-income-0

EH-Reit to ‘assess implications’ of MAS notice
The manager of Eagle Hospitality Reit (EH-Reit) said that it is working with professional advisers to “assess the implications” of the Notice of Intention (NOI) it received from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/eh-reit-to-assess-implications-of-mas-notice-0

MIT’s DPU down 1% for Q2; rental reliefs to hit FY20/21 distributable income
The distribution per unit (DPU) of Mapletree Industrial Trust (MIT) fell to 3.10 Singapore cents for the second quarter ended Sept 30, from 3.13 cents a year ago. This is despite distributable income rising 14.8 per cent to S$72.9 million on the back of higher net property income and distributions declared by joint ventures; distributable income was, however, partially offset by higher manager’s management fees.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/mits-dpu-down-1-for-q2-rental-reliefs-to-hit-fy2021-distributable-income

Sembcorp, SP to create platform with renewable energy certificate marketplace
Energy companies Sembcorp Industries and SP Group are collaborating to develop an environmental sustainability platform for corporates and consumers, with a marketplace that trades renewable energy certificates (RECs) and carbon credits, as well as to provide carbon consulting services.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/sembcorp-sp-to-create-platform-with-renewable-energy-certificate-marketplace
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/sembcorp-sp-group-to-create-green-platform-for-companies-consumers

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

No rushing ahead with reopening
New ground was broken this week when participants at the Singapore International Energy Week – the first to host up to 250 persons on site since pandemic restrictions began – underwent pre-event swab tests for Covid-19. The antigen rapid tests, although less sensitive than polymerase chain reaction ones, can yield faster results within 30 minutes.
https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/st-editorial/no-rushing-ahead-with-reopening-0

Sustainable free trade crucial to collective recovery
Ten months in, the pandemic still poses a threat to lives and livelihoods in many parts of the world. Among its many impacts are the cracks in our international supply chains, which are crucial to keeping globalised economies ticking along.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/sustainable-free-trade-crucial-to-collective-recovery

Riding on the momentum to move backwards
In confirming recently that UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Autumn Budget had been cancelled, his office issued a statement saying: “…now is not the right time to outline long-term plans – people want to see us focused on the here and now”. Locally, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat similarly sent a clear signal to anyone who might still be harbouring misguided hopes of expansive fiscal measures, by emphasising in his Facebook post on Oct 3, 2020 that “…there will not be a new round of support measures”.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/riding-on-the-momentum-to-move-backwards

Cross-border tax cooperation on the cards for Singapore
The legislative language in the Singapore Income Tax (Amendment) Bill introduced in Parliament on Oct 5 paves the way for Singapore to participate in multilateral tax compliance programmes that could raise the overall level of tax certainty for companies headquartered in Singapore or which run their regional hub operations from the city-state.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/opinion/cross-border-tax-cooperation-on-the-cards-for-singapore

Pandemic reinforces importance of being diversified
Constructing an investment portfolio is not as easy as it looks. This task just got much more difficult during this pandemic. Covid-19 initially started as a health crisis, but its impact has led many countries to suffer sharp economic losses.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/wealth-investing/pandemic-reinforces-importance-of-being-diversified

SOR-linked financial products to stop by April 2021 as Singapore gears up for Sora
Issuance of loans and securities linked to the Swap Offer Rate (SOR) that mature after end-2021 will need to cease by April next year, in a push by a financial industry-led committee to shift away from the use of SOR to the Singapore Overnight Rate Average (Sora) in financial products.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/banking-finance/sor-linked-financial-products-to-stop-by-april-2021-as-singapore-gears-up-for-sora-0
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/banking/sor-linked-financial-products-to-stop-by-next-april-as-singapore-gears-up-for-sora

Update on COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) Situation

TraceTogether tokens distribution suspended for now
The distribution of TraceTogether tokens, which has been ongoing at 38 community centres for the past six weeks, has been suspended for now so that the tokens can be distributed one constituency at a time. This is to prevent long queues from forming at certain community centres, which happened last weekend after the announcement that the TraceTogether app or token will be required for SafeEntry check-ins at popular venues by end-December.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/tracetogether-tokens-distribution-suspended-for-now

More travellers can serve SHN at own residence
Travellers from more countries will be allowed to serve their stay-home notice (SHN) at their own place of residence when they arrive here from Nov 4. These countries are Estonia, Fiji, Finland, Japan, Norway, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Turkey, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) yesterday. Travellers from these countries can apply to opt out of dedicated SHN facilities from Nov 2.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/more-travellers-can-serve-shn-at-own-residence
*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