Tag: Singapore

Thailand planning land and rail passageway, bypassing congested Strait of Malacca
30Sep By Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia, Singapore

Thailand planning land and rail passageway, bypassing congested Strait of Malacca

Discussions are underway in Thailand to construct two deep seaports on both sides of the country’s southern coast, which would be linked via rail and highway in hopes to shorten shipping time by bypassing the busy Strait of Malacca with a 100-kilometre highway and railway passageway.The latest proposal replaces the Kra Canal plan, which has been dropped on environmental grounds. That plan would have seen a canal crossing the skinniest point of the country, through the Isthmus of Kra just south of Phuket and Krabi, chopping around 1,200 kilometres off the shipping journey.The new project is expected to reduce shipping time by 2 days by bypassing the Strait of Malacca, which runs along Peninsular Malaysia’s south-west coast, before curving east past Singapore.However, the passageway is notor...
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Thailand studies Malacca bypass to link Indian and Pacific oceans
29Sep By Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia, Singapore

Thailand studies Malacca bypass to link Indian and Pacific oceans

With the Strait of Malacca becoming busier day by day, Thailand is looking of a way to construct a land passageway that would connect the Indian and Pacific Oceans, bypassing one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.The Strait of Malacca is a narrow sea lane between Malaysia and Singapore and is currently the shortest sea route linking the Asia-Pacific region with India and the Middle East. About a quarter of the world’s traded goods pass through it each year.“The Strait has become quite congested,” Transport Minister Saksiam Chidchob said in an interview.“Using an alternative route through Thailand would cut shipping time by more than two days, which is very valuable for businesses,” he said.Thailand plans to build two deep seaports on either side of the country’s southern coasts, and li...
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[Market] Singapore life insurance sales rise 10% amid Coronavirus scare
20Jun By Team FPNo Comments
Asia, Market, Singapore

[Market] Singapore life insurance sales rise 10% amid Coronavirus scare

While Coronavirus has destroyed many lives and economies, Singapore's life insurance industry saw new business, in terms of total weighted premiums, grow 10 per cent to $965.8 million for the first quarter from January to March 2020.A year ago, total weighted premiums amounted to $877.8 million.“This comes as more consumers took action to secure their financial future in view of Covid-19's drastic impact on the global and local markets”, said the Life Insurance Association (LIA), Singapore."However, with circuit-breaker measures, climbing unemployment and an impending recession, the life insurance industry may see the knock-on effect in the coming quarters," LIA president Khor Hock Seng said.Sales of annual-premium policies grew 3 per cent year on year, resulting in $672.4 million in total...
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Ministerial Committee set up to guide digital adoption, create jobs in digital economy
17Jun By Michael SmithNo Comments
Asia

Ministerial Committee set up to guide digital adoption, create jobs in digital economy

To accelerate Singapore's adoption of digital technology in the times of Coronavirus, the country has set up a high-level committee to create jobs for its people, help small businesses go online and ensure no citizen is left behind by technology.The Ministerial Committee for Digital Transformation’s key focus is to work with companies and the labour movement to create jobs in the info-communications and technology (ICT) sector and to place Singaporeans in these jobs, Communications and Information Minister S. Iswaran said in an interview.With small and medium enterprises employing some 65 per cent of the workforce in Singapore, one of the committee's prime aims is to help them survive and thrive through the use of technology.The badly hit retail and food and beverage sectors will get speci...
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First national standard on e-commerce transactions launched in Singapore
13Jun By Mike TrudellNo Comments
Singapore

First national standard on e-commerce transactions launched in Singapore

As coronavirus prompts everyone to go online, Singapore launched its first standard on e-commerce transactions formulated to help businesses improve their online retail processes and policies.It covers e-commerce transactions from pre- to post-purchase activities and will serve as a practical reference for e-retailers and online intermediaries such as e-marketplaces.“The launch of the new standard - Technical Reference 76 (TR 76) - will help build trust and transparency in online transactions”, Enterprise Singapore (ESG) and the Singapore Standards Council said on Friday.Amid the coronavirus outbreak, e-commerce transactions have shot up with online retail sales generating an estimated 17.8% of total retail turnover in April, up from 5.5% in January.In comparison, online sales accounted fo...
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Singapore needs a certain proportion of foreign workers, say observers
9Jun By Joe RodriguezNo Comments
China

Singapore needs a certain proportion of foreign workers, say observers

About 90% of Contractor PQ Builders team that does ground construction work are made up of foreigners. The Singaporeans who are part of the team are in supervisory roles.“Bringing in foreign workers is not as cheap as people think”, Peh Ke-Pin owner of the company said.A construction worker typically earns about S$800 a month in basic pay, but each worker costs at least double that.“It’s not that much more expensive to hire a local,” Peh said adding that he is willing to pay between S$2,000 to S$3,000 for a local, but there are still no takers when he puts out the job advertisements.This may be due to the current notion of what construction work entails.Some Singaporeans have said that with higher pay and career advancement, they might consider working in the construction industry, but the...
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Singapore start-ups can now apply to Fortitude Budget’s $285 million fund
7Jun By Mike TrudellNo Comments
Singapore

Singapore start-ups can now apply to Fortitude Budget’s $285 million fund

Promising start-ups in Singapore can now apply for special funding earmarked for them in the Fortitude Budget, to help them sustain innovation, gain access to credit, and bridge the financing gap they face amid the Covid-19 pandemic.The Special Situation Fund for Start-ups (SSFS) will be administered by EDBI, the corporate investment arm of Economic Development Board, and Seeds Capital, the investment arm of Enterprise Singapore, said both organizations in a joint statement on Friday.Under the scheme, EDBI and Seeds Capital will invest in selected start-ups with private sector co-investors in a one-to-one ratio.The SSFS will support early to late-stage innovative start-ups, though EDBI will focus on late-stage start-ups with larger funding needs and a wider employment base, while Seeds Cap...
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Reserves have allowed Singapore to deal with Covid-19 crisis: DPM Heng
6Jun By Michael SmithNo Comments
Asia

Reserves have allowed Singapore to deal with Covid-19 crisis: DPM Heng

While discussing the ‘Fortitude Budget’ in the parliament, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat on Friday said that unlike other countries, Singapore can depend on its national reserves and did not have to borrow or take on debt to fund its coronavirus stimulus packages.The MPs noted that Singapore was fortunate to be able to tap on the savings of past governments, built up since independence, to boost its Covid-19 war chest. But they also asked how long it would take to restore the sum.Vikram Nair (Sembawang GRC) likened the reserves to a "golden goose" to be protected, warning that the more it is drawn on, the less there will be for future generations to depend on.Tin Pei Ling (Macpherson) and Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok), meanwhile, said it has given Singapore a key strategic...
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Eligible Singaporeans to receive care and support package cash payments from June 18: MOF
4Jun By Mike TrudellNo Comments
Singapore

Eligible Singaporeans to receive care and support package cash payments from June 18: MOF

Singapore’s Ministry of Finance on Thursday announced that “eligible” Singaporeans will receive cash from June 18 as part of the the Care and Support Package.“Those eligible will receive cash payments of S$300 or S$600 via PayNow on June 18”, the Ministry said.Citizens who do not have PayNow linked to their NRIC by June 11 but have previously provided their bank account details for receiving Government payouts will receive the cash on June 25 via direct bank crediting, with the rest receiving the payments via cheque between Jun 30 and Jul 9.In addition, parents with at least one Singaporean child aged 20 and below in 2020 will each receive an extra S$300.Singaporeans aged 50 and above in 2020 will each receive an extra S$100 cash, in place of the earlier announced PAssion Card top-up."As p...
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2 in 3 working Singaporeans do not have enough savings to last more than 6 months: OCBC survey
1Jun By Joe RodriguezNo Comments
China, Singapore

2 in 3 working Singaporeans do not have enough savings to last more than 6 months: OCBC survey

Only a third of Singaporeans and permanent residents have enough funds to last them more than six months if they were to lose their jobs now, according to an OCBC survey released on Monday.An Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) survey conducted in Mid-May found that about 18 per cent have enough savings to cover one month of expenses.The bank surveyed 1,000 working adults aged between 21 and 65, earning from $2,000 a month. Around half had already suffered wage cuts, were prescribed no-pay leave or had their commission earnings reduced.“The survey aimed to understand the impact of the coronavirus crisis on residents' financial well-being”, OCBC said.More than half the respondents said their savings had taken a hit. Around 20 per cent indicated their savings fell by more than 20 per ...
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