Pioneers of Singapore industrialisation

Pioneers of Singapore industrialisation

The furniture industry was established as early as the 1960s and is now a significant contributor to the economy, reports VINCENT WEE
THE furniture industry in Singapore is long-established but little publicised. It has, in fact, been part of Singapore’s economic landscape since the 1960s and was among the pioneers of the country’s industrialisation drive, says International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore).

Sitting pretty: Renewed interest in lifestyle and consumer spending in the US and Europe, and new demand created by China and Russia have opened up new avenues for Singapore furniture firms
And furniture continues to be a significant contributor to the economy. IE’s figures show that in 2006, the value of the industry’s trade grew 11 per cent to reach $1.1 billion. According to the Singapore Furniture Industries Council (SFIC), the bulk of the industry’s core business is divided into three primary groups - manufacturing, retail/wholesale, and contract-based work.

Based on the latest available Department of Statistics figures, Singapore has 681 furniture manufacturers employing 6,953 people, and 65 per cent of the 172 larger establishments have subsidiary manufacturing plants in regional countries like China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. And there are about 580 wholesalers employing 3,572 employees and 828 retailers with 3,870 workers in the domestic market.

Venturing abroad

In recent years, like many other sectors of the economy, the furniture industry has sought its fortunes abroad, with varying degrees of involvement. IE Singapore highlighted the rising affluence and boom in the property and hospitality sectors in high-growth markets such as India and the Middle East as places Singapore furniture companies would be able to extend their global reach.

Renewed interest in lifestyle and consumer spending from major regions like the US and Europe, and new demand created by developing giants like China and Russia have also opened up new avenues for Singapore furniture firms, IE Singapore says. Companies are now also exporting to non-traditional markets as varied as Djibouti, Guadeloupe, Iceland, Slovenia, Malta, Cyprus, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Chile, Peru, Bahrain, Israel, Oman, Lebanon, Qatar, Georgia, Morocco, Reunion Island, Guam, Kazakhstan, Mexico, and Ukraine.

Singapore-based companies have set up a commercial presence in over 16 countries including the US, as well as in major Asian markets like Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia and Australia.

Contract furniture companies have also made their mark by winning prestigious overseas projects.

For example, Design Studio secured a contract for Donald Trump’s 1,282-unit condo-hotel project, the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Las Vegas last year, while Cheng Meng is on the approved vendor list for many international five-star hotel operators and has completed several projects in the US. It also outfitted the super luxury Eastern & Oriental Express train, the Grand Shanghai Theatre, the Reethi Rah Resort in the Maldives and Ritz-Carlton Singapore among others.

The need to go overseas has had two driving factors: firstly, because the domestic market is too small; secondly, to lower production costs to better compete on the international stage.

Competitive advantage

Singapore companies have a competitive advantage in that they have earned a strong reputation for producing innovative, well-designed and high-quality furniture which is widely accepted worldwide.

The other big plus in the highly competitive global furniture market is the reliability and efficiency for which Singapore companies are renowned. Singapore-run production facilities are able to provide prompt delivery and service at competitive prices and with little risk of default.

However even with these advantages, the international competition is increasingly becoming intense. Companies are often squeezed between pressures from the top and bottom. At the top end, they compete with long-established European and American manufacturers who churn out high quality original design furniture.

In the mid to lower-end markets, they have to fight aggressive price competition from emerging markets with cheap production like China and Vietnam.

IE Singapore works with private sector organisations like SFIC and other government agencies to help Singapore companies go abroad.

Furniture however, is different from most consumer goods in that it is bulky and samples cannot be easily transported to show potential customers. Thus, international trade shows are the main medium by which furniture companies can show their products and meet buyers.

IE Singapore also provides other support by working with SFIC to identify suitable manufacturing facilities and locations within South-east Asia for them. Other avenues like SFIC’s Young Exporter’s Programme help to educate new exporters as they expand regionally.

Source : Business Times - 13 Dec 2007

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S’pore Punggol Town raises funds for community club

S’pore Punggol Town raises funds for community club

By Lynda Hong

SINGAPORE: Punggol Town is taking a step closer towards getting a community club.

It has raised at least S$90,000 at its inaugural Fund Raising Golf Tournament, which was held at the Raffles Country Club on Thursday.

The fundraising event was flagged off by Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is also the MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC.

Nearly 150 golfers took part in the event. They include corporate partners and fellow constituents.

The Punggol 21 Community Club Building Fund hopes to raise S$2 million.

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 13 Dec 2007

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28,000 healthcare staff can benefit from re-employment- Singapore

28,000 healthcare staff can benefit from re-employment- Singapore

By S Ramesh
SINGAPORE: Over 28,000 staff at the National Healthcare Group and Singapore Health Services can look forward to being re-employed in the same or a different job when they reach the age of 62, if they have a good work record and are in good health.

The two healthcare clusters say they are not waiting till 2012 – the year when the re-employment legislation kicks in – to tap on the silver workforce.

Besides re-employment, there are also plans to do more for the older workers to make their workplace more conducive.

In the case of Alexandra Hospital, it has launched a Workplace Health Promotion Programme to enhance employability through better health and lifestyle management.

Last September, SingHealth launched the Silver Connection movement to engage its mature staff.

The two healthcare groups have also held workshops on financial planning and setting of personal goals for their workers.

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 13 Dec 2007

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Bosch to build $92m regional HQ in S’pore

Bosch to build $92m regional HQ in S’pore

By Chua Hian Hou
COST SAVER: The new complex will use 25 per cent less energy than a similar-sized building without special features. — PHOTO: BOSCH

GERMAN industrial and consumer goods giant Robert Bosch is building a new, environmentally friendly $92 million regional headquarters (HQ) building in Singapore.
Bosch’s new 225,000 sq ft site, comprising seven floors of office space and two underground carpark levels, is located near Raffles Institution in Bishan. The building is expected to be ready by 2009.

The company had decided to build the new building, said its South-east Asian president Cem Peksaglam, to ‘create more space for growth and… consolidate our different sites in Singapore at one location’.

Bosch employs 500 staff in Singapore - up from 200 employees in 2005 - located in eight locations across the island.

When the new site is completed, the company will relocate all its staff to this place for ’synergy and easier administration’, said Mr Peksaglam.

In the last five years, Bosch had seen ‘double-digit’ sales growth in South-east Asia and he is confident about the company’s regional prospects in the near future.

It will be hiring but gradually, said Mr Peksaglam. Given the situation, Bosch will look at renting out some of the unused space - the new site has enough space for 1,200 workers - in the short run. It expects to use the entire building for itself eventually.

The building will also be a showcase of green technologies such as double glass windows and solar sensors, which will help Bosch to use 25 per cent less energy compared with a similar-sized building without such features.

Guests at the ground-breaking ceremony yesterday include Economic Development Board (EDB) chairman Lim Siong Guan and German Ambassador to Singapore Folkmar Stoecker.

It ‘means a lot that a company like Bosch believes in Singapore’, said Mr Lim.

He said that Bosch’s continued investment is a strong endorsement of Singapore and that the EDB is ‘always ready to help wherever we can’.

Bosch maintains a computer data centre that serves 200 locations in the region.

The Republic is also Bosch’s information technology research and development centre, as well as its regional headquarters for corporate research.

Source : Straits Times - 13 Dec 2007

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S’pore Boon Lay site draws lukewarm response

S’pore Boon Lay site draws lukewarm response

A WEAK response to a residential site tender at Lakeside has caught the industry by surprise - given that suburban centres have been touted as the next property hot zones.
The 99-year leasehold site bounded by Boon Lay Way and Lakeside Drive had attracted only two bids by the time of the tender’s close yesterday, said the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

The top bid was put in by Frasers Centrepoint at $205.6 million - or $248 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr) - for the 236,731 sq ft site. First Capital Holdings put in the other bid at $191 million or $230 psf ppr.

The site, with a gross floor area of 828,552 sq ft, is just five minutes from the Lakeside MRT station, with views of the Chinese Gardens and Japanese Gardens next door.

With its convenient location and future URA plans for Jurong East to become a regional hub for the west of Singapore, ‘it is surprising that there were so few bids’, said Savills Singapore’s director of business development and marketing, Mr Ku Swee Yong.

A possible reason for the lukewarm response could be rising building costs, he said. ‘For mass market homes, if construction costs escalate, the profit margin shrinks and the project becomes very unattractive.’

CBRE Research executive director Li Hiaw Ho said the new site is likely to break even at about $600 psf, and may sell for between $700 psf and $800 psf.
Source : Straits Times - 13 Dec 2007

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US real estate fund pays $205m for Apollo Centre - Singapore

US real estate fund pays $205m for Apollo Centre - Singapore

Deal reaffirms confidence in Singapore’s office market

By Fiona Chan, Property Reporter
PROMISING SITE: The Apollo Centre is not a prime Grade A building, but it offers tremendous potential in terms of increasing its lettable area. When refurbished, it could command rent of at least $10 psf.

APOLLO Centre on Havelock Road has been sold to a United States fund manager for $205 million.
This higher-than-expected price comes as a relief to property watchers, who say it is a strong sign that foreign investors remain confident in the Singapore office market despite the US sub-prime mortgage crisis.

Marketing agent Knight Frank launched the seven-storey office building near Chinatown for sale in September, hoping to get at least $200 million.

The final sale price, paid by US real estate fund manager AEW Capital Management, works out to $1,378 per sq ft (psf) of net lettable area.

This is a ‘fair price’, considering that ‘in today’s market, prime offices about 10 minutes’ walk from this building are going at close to $3,000 psf’, said Mr Donald Han, the managing director of property consultancy Cushman & Wakefield.

At nearby Chinatown Point, office prices are already hovering around $1,300 psf, he added.

SILVER LINING
The sale is ‘certainly very good news now, when just one or two months ago, the market was trying to find its footing after the backlash from the sub-prime crisis. It’s refreshing to know foreigners have started to buy portfolios in Singapore.’ - MR HAN, of Cushman & Wakefield

The sale of Apollo Centre is significant as it shows that foreign buyers are starting to look outside the prime Central Business District (CBD) for good deals, said Knight Frank’s executive director, Mr Foo Suan Peng.

Most high-profile office sales in recent months have been of gleaming ‘trophy’ office buildings in the heart of the CBD.

As office prices skyrocket amid the space crunch, however, older properties on the CBD fringe are starting to look more attractive, even to foreigners who might not be familiar with Singapore’s office market.

‘Local buyers usually don’t mind properties that are a bit out of the CBD, but a lot of overseas investors concentrate on prime Grade A buildings in the CBD,’ said Mr Foo.

The 99-year leasehold Apollo Centre, which has 75 years left on its lease, is not a prime Grade A office building. It returns rents of about $8 psf, compared with about $18 psf for spanking new One George Street across the road, according to Mr Han.

Apollo Centre, however, has ‘tremendous’ potential in terms of increasing its lettable area, he said. When refurbished, it could command rents of at least $10 psf, he added.

The sale is ‘certainly very good news now, when just one or two months ago, the market was trying to find its footing after the backlash from the US sub-prime crisis’, he said.

‘It’s refreshing to know that foreigners, such as AEW, YTL and even Jackie Chan, have started to buy portfolios in Singapore.’

Mr Han was referring to Malaysia’s YTL Corp, which last month bought Westwood Apartments on Orchard Boulevard for a record price, and Chan’s recent purchase of 1 Neil Road.

AEW, which set up an office in Singapore in April, is also believed to have bought a row of conservation shophouses at Murray Terrace, off Maxwell Road. It is understood that the fund manager is looking to buy properties in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong.

Most of the tenants at Apollo Centre, within walking distance of the Subordinate Courts, are law firms.
Source : Straits Times - 13 Dec 2007

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New unlimited travel pass for visitors - Singapore

New unlimited travel pass for visitors - Singapore

A one-day pass for buses and trains will cost $18 with $10 refundable; also available: two-day and three-day versions

By Maria Almenoar

TOURISTS here will get to enjoy unlimited rides on public buses and trains with a new travel pass that went on sale yesterday.
Three versions of the Singapore Tourist Pass are available at eight MRT stations, including Changi Airport, Raffles Place, Chinatown and HarbourFront.

They go for $18 for a one-day pass; $26 for a two-day pass; and $34 for a three-day pass. All allow unlimited travel on Singapore’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Light Rapid Transit (LRT) rail systems and public buses. The price of each card includes a $10 deposit, which is refunded if returned within five days from the date of issue.

The passes can be returned at the eight MRT stations where they are sold.

If they stay longer, visitors can use the card as a standard ez-link card - like all other public transport users - and top up its value at any TransitLink ticket office, or passenger service counter at MRT stations, to pay for each ride.

Together with the tourist pass, visitors can also pick up a new travel guide with information on places of interest and how to get there by bus or train.
The pass and guide are long overdue, say regular visitors to Singapore like Japanese housewife Mariko Yamanaka, 41, who is based in New Delhi. She visits Singapore every three months to see friends and uses the trains and buses to get around.

‘I don’t have to worry about how to operate the ticket machine at the station, figure out the fare, stand in line and get the $1 deposit every time. And for tourists who are not good in English, this card will be especially useful,’ she said.

Similar day-passes have been available for years to travellers in cities like Hong Kong, London and Paris.

Singapore’s first attempt at the travel pass was in 2003. Known as the Singapore Visitors Card, the pass cost $30 for a stored value of $10 and gave users discounts at popular tourist attractions and retail outlets.

About 5,000 of those cards were sold, but the initiative was discontinued in 2005.

The new card is backed by EZ-Link - a subsidiary of the Land Transport Authority (LTA) which sells and manages the cards - the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and LTA. They decided to have another go at it this year, largely because of tourist feedback.

About 3,000 visitors here every month ask STB about getting around the country using public transport. And about the same number of adult ez-link cards are sold every day.

Said EZ-Link senior vice-president (business and technology) Nicholas Lee: ‘Tourists said they had to fumble for change in local currency to top up their card… that’s why the pass element is incorporated, so that they don’t have to worry about that.

‘With the projected increase in tourist arrivals to Singapore, we want to have a product to cater to the needs of tourists.’

Singapore expects 10.2 million tourists this year and the target is for 17 million visitors a year by 2015.

So far, 35,000 cards are ready for sale. Aside from getting around, the cards also offer visitors discounts at various places like the Singapore Zoo, local nightspot Zouk and restaurants.

Down the road, tourists may be able to order the cards online and pick them up when they arrive.

Hotels are also hoping to offer the cards to their guests. Orchard Hotel general manager Rene Teuscher said: ‘It will definitely make it more convenient for them and we’d be happy to sell it in our hotel.’

Source : Straits Times - 13 Dec 2007

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Singapore Apollo Centre sold for $205m

Singapore Apollo Centre sold for $205m

Buyer AEW intending to refurbish it
By UMA SHANKARI
US PROPERTY fund manager AEW Capital Management has bought Apollo Centre for $205 million, or $1,378 per sq ft (psf) of lettable floor area, the property firm that brokered the deal said yesterday.

Drawing keen interest: Apollo Centre, a seven-storey commercial building with shops on the basement, first and second storeys and offices on the upper floors, was put up for sale in September. The tender closed on Oct 16. Several parties were interested and negotiations went on for several weeks
Apollo Centre, in Havelock Road, is a seven-storey commercial building with shops on the basement, first and second storeys and offices on the upper floors.

It sits on 54,600 sq ft of land and has a gross floor area of around 217,500 sq ft. The lettable floor area is 148,700 sq ft. It is on a 99-year lease, with 75 years left.

Knight Frank, which marketed the building, said the purchase shows continued investor confidence in the Singapore commercial market since the US sub-prime crisis.

Apollo Centre was sold by Singapore Exchange-listed Apollo Enterprises. The company also owns and manages Furama City Centre Singapore and Furama RiverFront Singapore.

Knight Frank put up the property for sale in September and the tender closed on Oct 16. Several parties were interested and negotiations went on for several weeks after, said Knight Frank executive director Foo Suan Peng.

AEW and its affiliates manage more than US$41 billion of real estate assets and securities in North America, Europe and Asia. The group set up an office in Singapore in April as a base from which to expand in the region. AEW intends to refurbish Apollo Centre, BT understands.

Right now, office rents in the area are about $8.00 psf per month (psf pm) while retail rents range from $8.00-$8.50 psf pm.

Source : Business Times - 13 Dec 2007

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Singapore Sentosa Cove condo plot draws 3 bids

Singapore Sentosa Cove condo plot draws 3 bids

Tender for Boon Lay condo site attracts just 2 bids that are below expectations
By KALPANA RASHIWALA

A TENDER for the last condo plot at Sentosa Cove - named The Pinnacle Collection - is said to have attracted three bids when it closed yesterday, including a joint bid by Ho Bee Investment and Malaysia’s IOI Group. The other two bidders are said to include foreign players/funds.
Sentosa Cove Pte Ltd (SCPL) declined to reveal the names of the bidders or their bid prices ahead of an evaluation process that will be based on both design concept and price. ‘We expect the site to be awarded by early January,’ an SCPL spokeswoman said.

The plum 99-year leasehold condo site, gracing the entrance to Sentosa Cove’s marina basin, has a reserve price of $963.8 million or $1,600 psf per plot ratio, although top bids were expected to be above $2,000 psf, which would suggest an absolute amount of at least $1.2 billion. However, the deal clincher for the winning bidder may be its design concept, rather than how much it bid, market watchers observed.

The 99-year leasehold site can be developed into a 20-storey condo (this will make it the tallest project in the upscale waterfront housing precinct) with up to 357 apartments.

Over in the Jurong/Boon Lay area, an Urban Redevelopment Authority tender for a condo site next to Lakeside MRT Station drew just two bids - $205.56 million or $248 psf per plot ratio from Frasers Centrepoint and $191 million or $230.44 psf ppr from GuocoLand.

Both bids are below earlier market expectations of about $300 to $375 psf ppr indicated in October. Nonetheless, market watchers expect the site to be awarded. CB Richard Ellis observed that the higher bid yesterday of $248 psf ppr is 26 per cent above the $197 psf ppr achieved for The Lakeshore condo plot back in August 2002.

A spokeswoman for Frasers Centrepoint described the group’s bid price as ‘conservative’, adding that it would reflect a breakeven cost of about $550 psf. ‘We would be looking at an average selling price of at least $700 psf,’ she added.

The group’s scheme is for an 18-storey development comprising three blocks, with a total of 600-plus apartments based on an average size of 1,300 sq ft. ‘We’re bullish about the mid-market and upgrader segment in 2008,’ she added.

CBRE said that units at The Lakeshore near the latest site are being marketed at around $800 psf by its developer. In the subsale market, Lakeshore units have changed hands in recent months at $650-750 psf, while units at The Centris, one MRT station away, have been changing hands lately at $600-650 psf.
Source : Business Times - 13 Dec 2007

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Singapore SLA rents out 3 properties for office use, offers 2 more

Singapore SLA rents out 3 properties for office use, offers 2 more

Successful bid for former police HQ in Pearl’s Hill Terrace is 40% above guide
By ARTHUR SIM

THE Singapore Land Authority (SLA) has awarded three state-owned properties for rental through a public tender. And the successful bids were 17-40 per cent above the guide rents it had set.

New life: Businessman Tan Yong Boon plans to sub-let units in the ex-police HQ to new start-up companies and those that have been forced out of their existing offices
The former Police Headquarters at 195 Pearl’s Hill Terrace, the former Haig Boy’s School in Mountbatten Road and a former office and showroom at 169 Sims Avenue went for monthly rents of $53,501, $139,003, and $7,700 respectively.

All three sites are for office use.

The top bid of $53,501 for the Pearl’s Hill Terrace property works out to almost 40 per cent more than the guide rent.

The property, which has a gross floor area (GFA) of 145,431.2 square feet cost roughly $2.70 per square foot per month (psf pm).

Businessman Tan Yong Boon, who won the tender, said: ‘We plan to sub-let units to new start-up companies and those who have been forced out of their existing offices.’

The Mountbatten Road property, which has an estimated GFA of 96,039.9 sq ft, fetched a top bid of $116,000 or 20 per cent above the guide rent. This works out to $0.70 psf pm.

Ritzland Investment, which won the tender, plans to pump in $2 million to refurbish the property.

The winning bid of $7,700 psf pm for the Sims Avenue property, with a GFA of 4,151.6 sq ft, was 17 per cent above SLA’s guide rent and works out to $0.54 psf pm.

It was awarded to businessman Koh Teck Lee who plans to sub-let the units within three months after a $300,000 refurbishment.

A fourth property, the former Queenstown Neighbourhood Police Station, with a GFA of 12,780 sq ft, drew a top bid of $55,888 - more than double the guide rent. The bids for this property are still being evaluated.

SLA also said that two more sites have been put up for public tender.

The first, the former Upper Aljunied Technical School at 102 Upper Aljunied Road, was first put up for tender in October for short-term office use. There were no takers.

The site, with GFA of 83,118.9 sq ft, has now been re-designated for office and mixed use.

The second site is the former Alexandra fire station at 55 Queensway. Also for office and mixed use, the property has a GFA of 34,548.9 sq ft.

Source : Business Times - 13 Dec 2007

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