DAILY NEWS

Daily News 5th December 2018

Singapore Real Estate

Expo showcases innovations in urban logistics
All it takes is a click to send presents to loved ones this festive season, yet all those delivery vans could clog up the roads quickly. But, as is usual these days, there is a tech solution. Software company VersaFleet is employing algorithms that aim to alleviate the problem with more optimised routes so trucks do not have to waste time going back and forth. The firm put its solution on display at an Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) exhibition on innovations in urban logistics that opened yesterday.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/expo-showcases-innovations-in-urban-logistics

Singapore Economy

Singapore is Asia’s second most costly city for rich Asians: Julius Baer report
Boosted by a stronger Singapore dollar and costlier luxury goods and services overall, the Republic is now Asia’s second most expensive city for luxury living, up from third place last year. This finding came from private bank Julius Baer’s latest wealth report, which tracks luxury spending by Asia’s high-net-worth individuals, defined as those with net investable wealth of US$1 million or more, excluding the property that is their main residence.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singapore-is-asias-second-most-costly-city-for-rich-asians-julius-baer-report
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/luxury-living-in-spore-just-got-costlier
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapore-moves-up-to-second-most-expensive-city-in-asia-for-luxury-living

S-E Asia GDP growth to slow in 2019 amid trade war: ICAEW
Economic growth across the South-east Asia region is expected to slow in 2019 to 5 per cent, after an estimated 5.3 per cent in 2018, according to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales’ (ICAEW) latest Economic Insight report on the region. Singapore specifically is expected to experience the sharpest downturn, with gross domestic product (GDP) growth set to moderate from an expected 3.3 per cent in 2018 to 2.5 per cent next year, as US-China tensions and the resulting slowdown in Chinese demand continue to weigh on growth.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/s-e-asia-gdp-growth-to-slow-in-2019-amid-trade-war-icaew

Companies’ Brief

Sysma Holdings bags S$18.6m contract to build two-storey Good Class Bungalow
Catalist-listed builder Sysma Holdings has won an S$18.6 million contract to build a home in a Good Class Bungalow (GCB) Area, the group said on Wednesday. Wholly owned subsidiary Sysma Construction is set to put up a two-storey bungalow – complete with basement, attic and swimming pool – at 28, Jalan Kampong Chantek, off Dunearn Road, in a deal with what was described as “an established private owner”.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/sysma-holdings-bags-s186m-contract-to-build-two-storey-good-class-bungalow
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/sysma-holdings-clinches-186m-contract-to-build-two-storey-good-class-bungalow

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Brexit may be the panacea to Kwek’s M&C headache
The abrupt departure in September of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels’ (M&C) group chief executive Jennifer Fox, just slightly over three months after her appointment, has once again put the spotlight on M&C chairman Kwek Leng Beng’s problem with retaining CEOs at the group.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/brexit-may-be-the-panacea-to-kweks-mc-headache

Hotel icon sees communal living as the future
The next big disruptor in hospitality, according to Ian Schrager, is co-living spaces. “Communal living is blurring the distinction between residential and hotels,” the hotelier and Studio 54 co-founder argued during Bloomberg’s Year Ahead: Luxury conference in Manhattan last week.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/hotel-icon-sees-communal-living-as-the-future