DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 6th, 7th and 8th October 2018

Top Story

Market expects MAS tightening, but economists divided
The strengthening Singapore dollar suggests that the market expects further monetary tightening, yet economists are divided over whether the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will do so in its upcoming half-yearly policy review, with inflation in the upper half of the official forecast range but growth slowing amid global risks.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/market-expects-mas-tightening-but-economists-divided-0

Singapore Economy

Chan Chun Sing warns of serious damage if trade wars persist
Export-dependent Singapore has a strong warning for the rest of the world: The damage from a prolonged trade war will be severe. While South-east Asia has found some benefits from the deepening trade hostilities between the US and China, the risk of a protracted conflict should have everyone worried about the state of the global economy, said Singapore Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/chan-chun-sing-warns-of-serious-damage-if-trade-wars-persist
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/damage-from-prolonged-trade-war-will-be-severe-chan-chun-sing
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/prolonged-trade-war-poses-risk-to-global-economy-chun-sing
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/singapore-warns-big-risks-if-trade-wars-go

Singapore, India stress importance of RCEP
India and Singapore reaffirmed the importance of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) during the visit of Minister-in-Charge of Trade Relations S Iswaran to India. Mr Iswaran met Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday on the sidelines of the inaugural Destination Uttarakhand: Investors Summit at Dehradun in the state of Uttarakhand.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-india-stress-importance-of-rcep

Singapore happy to be ‘Goldilocks’ for energy usage experiments
As the world tries to curb carbon emissions, Singapore could be a testing ground for new ideas on how to reduce energy use through data and urban design, according to Chan Chun Sing, its trade and industry minister.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-happy-to-be-goldilocks-for-energy-usage-experiments
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/singapore-happy-to-be-goldilocks-for-energy-usage-experiments

Singapore Real Estate

Lim Kim San estate sells Dalvey Rd GCB site for S$93.9m
The estate of the late Lim Kim San has sold a freehold Good-Class Bungalow along Dalvey Road for S$93.9 million – or S$1,804 per square foot based on the 52,059 sq ft land area. The elevated site is large enough to be redeveloped into three bungalows.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/lim-kim-san-estate-sells-dalvey-rd-gcb-site-for-s939m

Cairnhill Mansions to go en bloc after settlement
The $362 million collective sale of Cairnhill Mansions will proceed at that price, due to a settlement that gives the penthouse owner who objected to the sale an extra $867,004.79. This sum is to be borne equally by the owners of the other units in the development, the High Court ordered on Thursday afternoon.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/cairnhill-mansions-to-go-en-bloc-after-settlement

People’s Park Centre owners to vote on collective sale bid
People’s Park Centre owners will be voting on whether to accept a reserve price of $1.3 billion, which analysts say is the highest so far for a mixed-use collective sale in this cycle. At an extraordinary general meeting (EOGM) on Oct 23, they will decide whether to accept the reserve price and method of apportionment for their first collective sale attempt. The development, which has 120 apartments, 256 offices, 324 shops and a carpark, has 51 years left on its lease.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/peoples-park-centre-owners-to-vote-on-collective-sale-bid

The future of facilities management in a tech-driven world
Earlier this year, the Singapore government unveiled details of the Real Estate Industry Transformation Map. The blueprint identified the facilities and engineering sector with the greatest potential for transformation. Put another way, it is a sector with one of the highest risks of disruption.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/the-future-of-facilities-management-in-a-tech-driven-world

Reits
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/reits-34

Why strata malls are struggling to survive
It is late afternoon on a weekday and the Novena Regency strata-titled mall looks more like a ghost town than a consumer hub. There is not a single person walking about, shutters are down on many shops while the majority of units are vacant. A handful of eateries are open, but they have few customers, if any.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/why-strata-malls-are-struggling-to-survive

Punggol residents to get integrated hub in 2021
Punggol residents can look forward to new amenities and programmes coming under one roof when the upcoming Punggol Town Hub opens in 2021. The new facilities include a hawker centre, regional library, childcare centre and healthcare facilities. The hub will also include a revamped Punggol Vista Community Centre, which will be about seven times the size of the current void deck community centre.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/punggol-residents-to-get-integrated-hub-in-2021
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/punggol-town-hub-2021-hawker-centre-library-10800152

Companies’ Brief

Singapore takes another shot at growing Islamic finance industry
Singapore is taking another shot at the growing global Islamic banking and finance industry, with the launch of a new Shariah-compliant index that will serve as a benchmark for Shariah-compliant funds looking to invest in the city-state. It could carve a path for more Shariah-compliant products to be created, with the first foray into Islamic financing not having quite taken off years ago.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/singapore-takes-another-shot-at-growing-islamic-finance-industry

Chip Eng Seng shareholders, including founder, sell 29.73% stake to SingHaiyi MD for S$201m
Seven of Chip Eng Seng’s shareholders, including founder Lim Tiam Seng and executive deputy chairman Lim Tiang Chuan, are selling shares amounting to 29.73 per cent of the total issued shares of the company to Celine Tang, the managing director of SingHaiyi.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/chip-eng-seng-shareholders-including-founder-sell-2973-stake-to-singhaiyi-md-for
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/shareholders-of-chip-eng-seng-selling-2973-of-total-issued-shares-to-singhaiyi-md

GIC makes another Vietnam bet with Masan Group stake
GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, is making another bet on Vietnam by purchasing a stake in local conglomerate Masan Group Corp, people with knowledge of the matter said. The state investment firm bought roughly half of KKR & Co’s 4.7 per cent stake in Masan, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. It purchased the stock as part of an overnight placement by KKR, which offloaded its entire holding in a US$209 million deal, the people said.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/gic-makes-another-vietnam-bet-with-masan-group-stake

Mapei boosts presence in Asia-Pacific through Singapore management base
Founded in the Italian city of Milan in 1937, the Mapei Group has been supplying construction solutions for more than 80 years. It is one of the leading global producers of adhesives systems for the installation of all types of floor and wall coverings such as tile adhesives and wood, luxury vinyl tiles (LVT) and textile-floor bonding products.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/hub/italian-business-report-2018/mapei-boosts-presence-in-asia-pacific-through-singapore-management

VIEWS, REVIEWS, FORUM & Others

The 5G Frontier
Driverless cars, drones and virtual reality. These are just some of the headline-grabbing technologies that could be part of our lives once fifth-generation, or 5G, mobile networks roll out, telcos say.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/brunch/the-5g-frontier

SIMTech launching new digital transformation and innovation programme
A*STAR’s Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech) is launching a new digital transformation and innovation (DTI) programme to train key personnel of local enterprises to be champions for digitalisation in order to speed up the transformation of business models.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sme/simtech-launching-new-digital-transformation-and-innovation-programme

Limiting global warming to 1.5 deg C possible but will need unprecedented societal changes: UN panel
Global economies will have to begin rapid and unprecedented changes to everything from energy production to transport, agriculture and buildings if mankind is to limit damage from global warming, the United Nations’ climate panel said in a major report released on Monday (Oct 8).
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/limiting-global-warming-to-15-deg-c-possible-but-will-need-unprecedented-societal-changes
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/united-nations-climate-change-global-warming-10802300

Commentary: Rising temperatures will make Southeast Asian economies sweat
Climate change does not discriminate, but some regions of the world are going to suffer more than others. And Southeast Asia is in the direct firing line. As climate change increases the strength and frequency of storms and pushes temperatures to new heights we will see it play an ever more central role in economic crises, mass migration, political instability, civil unrest, ecosystem breakdown, and food and water insecurity.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/rising-temperatures-in-southeast-asia-impact-economy-10775624

The next co-working space: A kitchen table near you
It is a Thursday afternoon and I am frantically vacuuming, trying to strike the right balance between sterile and homely. Do I have time to buy biscuits? Too late, there is a knock at the door. My guest, whom I met via an app, is here. This is not a date in the romantic sense, though I have the jitters. Rather, I am hosting a stranger to work alongside me in my kitchen, to test out a new concept called home co-working.
https://www.todayonline.com/commentary/next-co-working-space-kitchen-table-near-you