Singapore

Boosting disbursement of public investment
20May By Team FPNo Comments
Asia, Singapore

Boosting disbursement of public investment

The General Statistics Office (GSO) calculates that a 1% increase in the disbursement of public investment will contribute 0.06 percentage points to GDP growth. Therefore, public investment is an important source of capital to attract others to invest in the economy, contributing to fueling production, business, and growth. Progress from an urgent project The project on the upgrade of runways and taxiways at Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai International Airports, which have been deteriorating for over three years, was finally approved by the Government to be added to the list of medium-term public investment projects for the 2016-2020 period. Relevant procedures will be promptly implemented to start construction of the project in July this year. The runways and taxiways at the two airports have b...
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South-east Asia’s growth forecast to be 1% in 2020: ADB
20May By Team FPNo Comments
Asia, China, Singapore

South-east Asia’s growth forecast to be 1% in 2020: ADB

WITH the Covid-19 outbreak, South-east Asia's gross domestic product growth is expected to slow sharply to just 1 per cent in 2020, before rebounding to 4.7 per cent in 2021, according to an Asian Development Bank report on April 3. This is down from 2019's full-year growth rate of 4.4 per cent. The report, Asian Development Outlook 2020, forecasts that for developing Asia as a whole, growth will slow to 2.2 per cent in 2020, before rebounding to 6.2 per cent in 2021. All Asean economies will see a growth slowdown because of Covid-19 and a consequent global slump, especially given their strong trade and investment ties with a slowing China, said the report. Thailand is expected to perform the worst with a 4.8 per cent contraction, "continuing a steady slide in recent years"."Growth in the ...
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Igloo raises $8.2M to bring insurance to more people in Southeast Asia
20May By Team FPNo Comments
Asia, Singapore, USA

Igloo raises $8.2M to bring insurance to more people in Southeast Asia

Singapore-based Igloo, formerly known as Axinan, has raised $8.2 million as the insurance-tech startup looks to broaden its foothold in half a dozen Southeast Asian markets and Australia. InVent, a corporate venture capital arm of telecommunications firm Intouch Holdings, led Igloo’s extended Series A round, the startup told TechCrunch. Existing investors Openspace Ventures,  a venture capital fund that invests in Southeast Asia, and Linear Capital, a Shanghai-based early-stage venture capital firm focusing on tech-driven startups, participated in this round, which makes four-year-old Igloo’s to-date raise to $16 million. It raised about $1 million in its Seed financing round. Igloo — founded by Wei Zhu, who previously served as Chief Technology Officer at Grab — works with e-commerce and ...
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Coronavirus: Millions of jobs at stake in South-east Asia
20May By Team FPNo Comments
Asia, China, Singapore

Coronavirus: Millions of jobs at stake in South-east Asia

BANGKOK - Millions of jobs could be lost in South-east Asia as economies grind to a halt amid efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic, wreaking havoc particularly in countries with weak social protection systems. A report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap) says regional governments should - and still have ample policy space - to both save jobs as well as support minimum living standards for households. In the policy paper on the Asia Pacific region issued last week (March 26), Escap noted that while exact data on the impact of the pandemic on employment remained unavailable, "the impact is likely to be substantial as services and labour-intensive manufacturing comprise over 80 per cent of the region's informal sector and small and medi...
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SE Asia Stocks-Vietnam leads plunge as region battered by oil rout
20May By Team FPNo Comments
Asia, China, Singapore

SE Asia Stocks-Vietnam leads plunge as region battered by oil rout

* Vietnam marks worst day since March 30    * Malaysia's worst session in over four weeks Southeast Asia markets closed lower ledby Vietnam stocks on Tuesday, rattled by a historic crash inU.S. oil prices that laid bare the disruption caused by thecoronavirus pandemic.     The plunge, which pressured global markets, was a result ofa storage squeeze which turned holders of U.S. crude contractsexpiring later on Tuesday to forced sellers. This amid a lack ofdemand for oil as countries around the world observe lockdownsto curb the spread of the coronavirus.    "The impact of negative oil means different things fordifferent Asian economies - but if you have to generalize, itisn't great news," Robert Carnell, regional head of research,Asia-Pacific at ING, wrote in a note.    Such a big negative ...
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Facebook, three Indonesian firms in early talks for mobile payment approval: sources
20May By Team FPNo Comments
Asia, China, Singapore

Facebook, three Indonesian firms in early talks for mobile payment approval: sources

Facebook Inc is preparing to apply for regulatory approval in Indonesia to launch mobile payments in partnership with three local digital fintech firms, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The plan, if approved, could be among the first such services under the unified payment service Facebook Pay it, which the social media platform unveiled in November. It allows users across its various platforms including WhatsApp and Instagram to make payments without exiting the app. The move comes amid early partnership talks between the social network and ride-hailing and payments firm Gojek. Four sources said Facebook wants to capitalize on the Indonesian market and is preparing for regulatory approval in the country. The three e-wallet operators are Indonesian ride hailing firm Gojek’s Go...
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Qoala raises $13.5M to grow its insurance platform in Indonesia
20May By Team FPNo Comments
Asia, Singapore

Qoala raises $13.5M to grow its insurance platform in Indonesia

Online lending firms might be beginning to feel the heat of the coronavirus pandemic in Southeast Asia, but investors’ faith in digital insurance startups remains unflinching in the region. Jakarta-based Qoala has raised $13.5 million in its Series A financing round, the one-year-old startup said Tuesday. Centauri Fund, a joint venture between funds from South Korea’s Kookmin Bank and Telkom Indonesia, led the round. Sequoia India, Flourish Ventures,  Kookmin Bank Investments, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Mirae Asset Sekuritas and existing investors MassMutual Ventures Southeast Asia, MDI Ventures,  SeedPlus and Bank Central Asia’s Central Capital Ventura participated in the round, which pushes the startup’s to-date raise to $16.5 million. Qoala works with leading insurers including AXA...
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Vickers Venture Partners tapping South Korean institutional investors
19May By Team FPNo Comments
Singapore

Vickers Venture Partners tapping South Korean institutional investors

Singapore-based venture capital firm Vickers Venture Partners, a Singapore is tapping South Korean institutional investors in the second round of fundraising to attract up to $500 million for its sixth fund.The company has recently submitted an investment proposal to Korea Growth Investment Corp., a fund of funds manager investing in startups and small businesses. The VC firm is aggressively marketing the fund to domestic institutions investing in overseas venture capital funds.Vickers has hit its first close of the new fund at $300 million, or 60% of its target amount. Korea Venture Investment Corporation, another fund of funds manager, committed $16 million in the first round of fundraising.“There are a number of deep-tech startups in South Korea where we can invest,” a Vickers source sa...
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D Chinese tech giant Baidu to invest $70.3 million into the live-streaming sector
19May By Team FPNo Comments
Singapore, USA

D Chinese tech giant Baidu to invest $70.3 million into the live-streaming sector

Chinese tech giant Baidu is going to invest $70.3 million into the live-streaming sector in a bid to take on rivals Douyin, China’s version of Tiktok, and Kuaishou in that space. The move comes in the wake of the three players jostle for dominance amidst a series of tit-for-tat lawsuits, and as Baidu on Monday announced better-than-expected revenue for the March quarter, causing its U.S.-listed shares to rise 8% in extended trading.Baidu’s new investment will be spent on growing its live-streaming user base and attracting high quality content creators, according to Baidu’s vice president Shen Dou. Baidu, best known for operating a Google-like search engine, plans to boost its short video operations by sending traffic from the rest of its ecosystem to creators’ content.Haokan content will b...
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18May By Team FPNo Comments
Singapore

Ant Financial to invest US$73.5 million in Wave Money

Ant Financial has decided to invest US$73.5 million in fintech firm Wave Money as part of a strategic partnership to boost financial inclusion in Myanmar. The investment makes the Alipay operator a substantial minority stakeholder in Wave Money, alongside existing shareholders Yoma Group and Telenor.Wave Money lets users send and receive money using their phones or through one of its 57,000 agents called “Wave Shops” scattered across urban and rural areas in Myanmar. It was founded in 2015 as a joint venture between Yoma and Telenor,Wave Money is profitable, having become EBITDA-positive in 2018 and reaching US$4.3 billion in transfer volume in 2019. The company also said that over 21 million people have used its platform, with its monthly active user base growing by 14% month on month. Wi...
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