Singapore Job market for execs continues to look bright

Singapore Job market for execs continues to look bright

Survey shows about 50% of companies plan to hire in first quarter of this year

By Keith Lin

THE looming spectre of an economic slowdown will not dim the job prospects of executives here, a survey shows.
Around one in two companies plan to increase their executive pool in the first quarter of this year, says human resource consultancy Hudson, a leading global executive headhunter.

Most of those keen on doing so are manufacturing companies, especially those in the emerging bio-medical and chemical sectors.

Besides hiring, more than seven in 10 will probably also offer substantial pay hikes to attract managerial talent.

These findings are based on a poll of 659 key decision-makers in multinational companies here.

It was done last November amid a slowing down of Singapore’s economy, with growth in the final quarter slipping to 6 per cent, the slowest rate in nearly three years.

Still, 51 per cent of companies polled say they plan to recruit more executives in this first quarter. This, however, is a dip from the 56 per cent who had such plans for the same period last year.

Hudson’s country manager Mark Sparrow attributes the good news to Singapore continuing to offer multinationals ‘great opportunities for a low-cost base packed with talent’.

The latest official figures affirm what Mr Sparrow told The Straits Times.

The Manpower Ministry reports that as of last September, almost half of the 35,500 job vacancies, or 45 per cent, were for professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs). Vacancies for these PMETs totalled 16,100.

Trade union leaders like the general secretary of the United Workers of Petroleum Industry, Mr K. Karthikeyan, agree with the Hudson findings. He described the dearth of managerial talent in his industry as ‘chronic’.

‘It is not uncommon to see an experienced engineer switch companies, then poach his team of senior technicians from his previous employer,’ he said.

While most companies in the banking and financial services are also expected to raise staff count in the first quarter, fewer said they would do so - 53 per cent against 59 per cent a year ago.

As for managerial pay, around 71 per cent of companies see themselves paying new managers over 10 per cent more. A year ago, only 58 per cent said so.

Employers likely to give the biggest pay hikes are banks, with 85 per cent expected to do so, and IT companies, with 84 per cent.

A separate survey by human resource research firm ECA International found that workers in general will likely receive a 5 per cent pay rise this year, up from 4.5 per cent a year ago.

‘But employees are likely to experience relatively subdued real income rises compared to previous years,’ said its general manager Lee Quane.

The reason: Much of it will be swallowed up by inflation, which jumped to 4.2 per cent in November, according to latest official figures.
Source : Straits Times - 18 Jan 2008

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More pawn jewellery as gold hits record high - Singapore

More pawn jewellery as gold hits record high  - Singapore

Pawnshops report more people coming in with gold items in past 2-3 weeks

By Tara Tan & Amy Tan
PRECIOUS METAL: Mr Yeow Shang Ying of Heng Leong Pawnshop says business has increased and he now issues about 2,200 pawn receipts each month. — ST PHOTO: WANG HUI FEN

WITH gold hitting a record high of US$909 (S$1,299) an ounce on Monday, Singaporeans are cashing in.
Almost all 15 pawnshops The Straits Times approached said more people have been pawning gold in the past two to three weeks.

Mr Yeow Shang Ying, managing director of Heng Leong Pawnshop and vice-president of the Singapore Pawnbrokers’ Association, said his shop issues 2,000 pawn receipts in an average month, but this has increased to about 2,200 in recent months.

A spokesman for Soon Soon Pawnshop in Bedok confirmed the trend, saying: ‘It is natural, because they can get more money now.’

Retiree Tan Bee Meng, 67, who had just pawned a gold bracelet in Chinatown, said: ‘I am lucky that the price of gold is so good now, since I need the cash.’

Gold prices have been on the rise as investors - spooked by rising oil prices, the spectre of a recession in the United States and a falling US dollar - fall back on the metal as a stalwart investment in uncertain times.

The trend of re-selling personal gold jewellery began last year as the price of gold increased by 32 per cent during the year. The price of gold has gone up another 8 per cent since Jan 1. Analysts expect it to reach US$1,100 per ounce this year.

But even as people who want cash are pawning their gold pieces, the high prices have hit those who pawned their jewellery earlier and now wish to redeem the pieces.

When taxi driver Chia Ah Bah, 51, pawned a gold necklace and bangle almost three years ago, he received about $500. Redeeming it now will set him back almost $900, he said.

In polling jewellery shops and goldsmiths, The Straits Times gathered a mixed picture of the effect of gold prices on sales.

With the price of pure gold jewellery at $50.50 per gram, up from $39 at this time last year, consumers have not seemed deterred, said Mr Chng Seng Mok, chairman and chief executive officer of Poh Heng Jewellery.

‘Gold is still very popular among them,’ he said.

Retailers also put brisk sales down to the better bonuses people have just received.

Ms Sharon Perera, a 39-year-old sales manager who was browsing at On Cheong Jewellery, said: ‘I will still buy gold even though the price is high now because I think the prices may appreciate even more, and it is a good investment.’

But other retailers say they are beginning to see people being put off by the higher prices.

Salesman Desmond Low from Teck Seng Jewellers said business there had fallen by about 60 per cent from last year because ‘people are re-selling gold but they are not buying’.

Mr Ian Koo, director of Raja Kings Goldsmith and Jewellers, agreed, saying people were still making ‘necessary purchases’ - such as for wedding gifts and special occasions - ‘but otherwise, they will buy only when the price is low’.
Source : Business Times - 18 Jan 2008

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Export growth slumps slowest pace in five years

Export growth slumps slowest pace in five years

2.3% figure is well under official forecasts of between 4% and 6% growth

By Bryan Lee

A SURPRISE contraction last month capped a disappointing year for Singapore exports, which missed official targets as growth slumped to its slowest pace in five years.
Expansion last year hit just 2.3 per cent, well under official forecasts of between 4 and 6 per cent and small change compared with the 8.5 per cent growth in 2006.

Last month’s dismal figures reflect the wider downturn: Overseas sales of goods made here shrank for the second straight month, contracting 4.5 per cent against expectations for at least 5 per cent growth.

Pharmaceutical exports disappointed, failing to recover from a surprise contraction in November, while the electronics sector shrank for the 14th time in 15 months.

Economists had expected a rebound from November’s 3.4 per cent contraction. A better December trade figure could have signalled that overall economic growth for the fourth quarter was better than an early estimate of 6 per cent.

But the dismal data out yesterday dashed such hopes, pointing instead to yet another weak month for manufacturers.
It has cast a pall over the new year, but trade agency IE Singapore is predicting a turnaround, forecasting export growth of between 4 and 6 per cent this year.

This is despite expectations that growth in all of Singapore’s main markets will slow.

The trade agency is pinning its hopes on a long-overdue global technology recovery to provide enough boost to achieve its target.

‘GDP growth of our trading partners will moderate, but we are hopeful that the other engines of growth for trade can help us,’ said IE chief executive Chong Lit Cheong.

Exports last year were a major letdown. Growth was only 2.3 per cent - mainly because of shrinking exports of semiconductors, disk drives and telecom equipment. The number paled beside the 3 per cent predictions of many market economists.

Electronic exports shrank 9.2 per cent last month, as well as for the whole year.

‘The electronics sector remains firmly in the doldrums,’ said HSBC economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde. Much of this was due to a prolonged downturn in the global electronics cycle, he said. ‘But Singapore has fared a lot worse than other tech-heavy countries, hinting at some more fundamental problem.’

By contrast, pharmaceuticals helped hold up overall exports, jumping 21 per cent for the whole of last year.

But a failure last month by the notoriously volatile sector to rebound from a surprise November contraction kept overall exports in the red for a second straight month.

IE is counting on a global chip recovery in the second half of this year to boost local electronic exports. Industry forecasts predict global chip sales to grow 6 to 9 per cent this year, up from last year’s 3 to 4 per cent.

Two new pharmaceutical plants coming on stream this year could boost drug exports, said Mr Chong.

But all eyes are on the US, Singapore’s No. 2 export market after Europe, which may be sinking into a recession. Mr Chong said IE’s forecast may be revised if the country’s economic outlook worsens from the agency’s 1.5- to 2-per-cent forecast.

Indeed, some analysts said the IE growth target is ambitious. ‘My best guess is that exports will grow 2 to 4 per cent, given our view of US growth at 0.5 per cent,’ said Standard Chartered Bank economist Alvin Liew.
UNDERLYING PROBLEM?
‘The electronics sector remains firmly in the doldrums. But Singapore has fared a lot worse than other tech-heavy countries, hinting at some more fundamental problem.’

HSBC ECONOMIST ROBERT PRIOR-WANDESFORDE, saying the prolonged downturn in the global electronics cycle may not be solely responsible for the 9.2-per-cent fall in electronic exports last month as well as for the whole year

Source : Business Times - 18 Jan 2008

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Inflation seen eating up into pay hikes this year

Inflation seen eating up into pay hikes this year

Real take-home pay increases will be subdued: HR group
By CHUANG PECK MING
INFLATION is likely to take a big bite of that fat pay rise this year. With Singapore workers looking forward to some of the biggest pay rises in the developed economies at 5 per cent, ECA International, a global club of human resource practitioners, says real take-home increases will be ‘relatively subdued’.
A surge in prices of oil, food and lodgings will ‘counter-balance’ the projected big pay rise ‘considerably’ not just in Singapore but also in the likes of China, South Korea and Taiwan, ECA said in a statement released yesterday.

‘This latest upswing in inflation, which has caught many people by surprise, will have an impact on real salary increases in 2008,’ said the firm’s general manager Lee Quane.

‘When many companies calculated salary increases for 2008, inflation forecasts were relatively low,’ he said. ‘Inflation in Singapore, for example, is now around two-and-a-half times higher than anticipated in October forecasts, so employees here are likely to experience relatively subdued real income rises in comparison to previous years.’

The situation is going to give companies faced with a tight labour market a big headache in the coming months, according to Mr Quane.

‘They will need to consider revising their forecast salary increases or provide higher salary increases next year to make up for this year’s relatively low increase in real incomes,’ he said.

In nominal terms, ECA’s recent poll shows Singapore workers can expect their pay to go up by an average of 5 per cent in 2008 - thanks to a robust economy and a labour shortage.

While this is below the estimated 7.3 per cent average for Asia as a whole, it is still higher than last year’s 4.5 per cent.

‘For a developed economy such as Singapore, this level of wage increase is high,’ Mr Quane said.

‘Most other developed economies in our survey are showing forecast wage increases of approximately 4 per cent.’

Hong Kong, Singapore’s chief economic rival, is likely to see pay increases flat at 4 per cent this year - the second-lowest in the region, according to ECA.

Japan, again, has the lowest projection for pay rise in Asia for 2008 - 3 per cent, the same as in 2007.

The Philippines is tipped to join India, Vietnam and China in seeing the biggest pay increases.

Salary increases in Asia are expected to be 25 per cent more than they were in 2005. And for the first time, the region’s pay hikes are tipped to be higher than those in Eastern Europe, where signs show wages are starting to stabilise.

‘Regionally, India and Vietnam are expected to see the biggest increases when compared with last year,’ ECA said.

‘In India the 14 per cent salary rise is significantly up on last year’s high of 12.6 per cent, while Vietnam’s 10 per cent prediction is a notable increase on the 8.5 per cent in 2007.’

Led by India, Asia is projected to have the biggest pay increase in 2008.
Source : Business Times - 18 Jan 2008

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Singapore A-Reit’s portfolio hit record occupancy of 99% at end-2007

Singapore A-Reit’s portfolio hit record occupancy of 99% at end-2007

By UMA SHANKARI

ASCENDAS Real Estate Investment Trust (A-Reit) said yesterday its overall portfolio occupancy rate increased to a record 98.7 per cent at end-2007 from 96.1 per cent at end-2006.

Slump: Anticipated high supply of 702,000 sq m of logistics and distribution space in the next two years is expected to dampen rents
The occupancy rate for A-Reit’s multi-tenanted buildings rose to 97 per cent at end-2007 from 93.1 per cent at end-2006, the trust said.

Based on value, A-Reit’s portfolio comprises 51 per cent multi-tenanted buildings and 49 per cent sale- and-leaseback properties.

A-Reit renewed and signed new leases including expansions amounting to a net lettable area of 46,933 sq m for the three months ended Dec 31, 2007. These leases represent 6.8 per cent of the net lettable area of its multi-tenanted buildings and annualised rental income of $11.1 million.

Related link:

Click here for A-Reit’s press release
Total new leases including expansions for the quarter were 16,961 sq m - 28.7 per cent in business and science parks, 32.8 per cent in hi-tech industrial buildings and 38.6 per cent in two other sectors - light industrial and flatted factories and logistics and distribution centres. A-Reit said HansaPoint@CBP, a partial built-to-suit development project it undertook in November 2006, attained 100 per cent pre-committed occupancy during construction. The development is expected to be completed next month.

Looking ahead, demand for industrial space is likely to remain healthy due to multi-national companies setting up facilities in Singapore and the spillover effect from tight office supply in the central business district, A-Reit said.

But anticipated high supply of 702,000 sq m of logistics and distribution space in the next two years is expected to dampen rents, it warned.

Source : Business Times - 18 Jan 2008

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Merrill takes US$11.5b sub-prime writedown - (NEW YORK)

Merrill takes US$11.5b sub-prime writedown - (NEW YORK)

Largest US broker posts first full-year loss since 1989

(NEW YORK) Merrill Lynch reported a second straight quarterly loss after writing down US$11.5 billion of sub-prime mortgages and bonds, ousting its chief executive officer and losing almost half of its market value in 2007.

In the red: Ousted CEO Stan O’Neal’s gamble on Merrill’s sub-prime mortgage business backfired
New York-based Merrill said yesterday that it suffered a fourth-quarter net loss of US$9.83 billion, or US$12.01 a share, compared with earnings of US$2.35 billion, or US$2.41 a share, a year earlier. Analysts were estimating that the largest US brokerage would post a loss of US$4.82 a share, according to a survey by Bloomberg. The decline resulted in Merrill’s first full-year loss since 1989.

‘While the firm’s earnings performance for the year is clearly unacceptable, over the last few weeks we have substantially strengthened the firm’s liquidity and balance sheet,’ chief executive John Thain said in the statement. Mr Thain joined Merrill last month, replacing Stan O’Neal, whose gamble on building the sub-prime mortgage business backfired as US homeowner defaults surged to a 20-year high.

Merrill is the third of the five biggest US securities firms to post a loss, capping the companies’ worst quarter ever. Mr Thain, the former president of Goldman Sachs, Wall Street’s most profitable firm, has replaced senior executives and taken steps to replenish capital during the past month by raising US$12 billion from outside investors.

‘Mr Thain is repositioning the firm to start fresh with a strong balance sheet, once these couple of bad quarters get out of the way,’ said Matthew Albrecht, an analyst at Standard & Poor’s who rates Merrill shares ‘hold’.

The company’s full-year loss came to US$7.78 billion compared with record net income of US$11.6 billion at Goldman and earnings of US$3.2 billion posted by Morgan Stanley, the industry’s No 2 firm.

Morgan Stanley and Bear Stearns, like Merrill, reported their biggest losses in the fourth quarter. Goldman and Lehman Brothers had profits.

Mr Thain has reduced 2007 bonuses in some divisions and cut jobs in the fixed-income unit, where the writedowns originated.

Several executives tied to Mr O’Neal have left, including former US brokerage chief McIntyre Gardner. Mr Thain has also recruited executives from his most recent employer, NYSE Euronext, hiring Nelson Chai to replace Jeff Edwards as chief financial officer.

Merrill, the third-biggest US securities firm, fell 42 per cent last year in NYSE trading, the third-worst performance among the 12 stocks tracked by the Amex Securities Broker/Dealer Index. Goldman, which profited by betting on a decline in prices for mortgage securities, gained 7.9 per cent in the same period.

Merrill, whose market value was greater than Goldman’s as recently as 2006, is now worth half as much. Mr Thain, 52, worked at Goldman from 1979 to 2004, when he left to become chief executive of NYSE Euronext.

The writedowns by Merrill add to more than US$100 billion of sub-prime-related losses reported since May by the world’s largest banks and securities firms. Citigroup posted the biggest loss in its 196-year history earlier this week as the largest US bank’s sub-prime mortgage investments and related securities tumbled in value by US$18 billion.

With its capital depleted, Merrill said on Tuesday that it sold US$6.6 billion of preferred stock to a group of investors including the Korean Investment Corp, Kuwait Investment Authority and Mizuho Corporate Bank. The transaction followed the sale in December of as much as US$6.2 billion in stock.

Before his ouster in October, Mr O’Neal acknowledged that Merrill held onto many of the mortgage securities it created rather than selling them to customers. Mr O’Neal also bought sub-prime lender First Franklin Financial Corp for US$1.3 billion at the end of 2006 just as the market for housing-linked securities was beginning to wither.

Merrill held US$8.8 billion of sub-prime mortgages by June and US$32.1 billion of collateralised debt obligations or CDOs - securities packaged from mortgage bonds, loans and other debt.

Many CDOs were downgraded by ratings agencies S&P and Moody’s as an increasing number of borrowers fell behind on home loan payments, sending prices on some of the securities plunging to as little as 30 cents on the dollar. — Bloomberg

Source : Business Times - 18 Jan 2008

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Singapore Hotels, eateries top profit growth in 2007: DP Info

Singapore Hotels, eateries top profit growth in 2007: DP Info

Group releases rankings of S’pore’s top-performing companies
By CHOW PENN NEE
(SINGAPORE) The hotels and food establishments sector recorded stronger profit growth last year than any other sector of the economy, new figures show.
Companies in this sector saw their profits leap by an astounding 181 per cent in one year, according to credit ratings firm DP Information Group (DP Info). Turnover was up by 24 per cent compared to 2006.

The figures were released yesterday with the annual Singapore 1000 (S1000) and small and medium enterprise 500 (SME500) rankings. The rankings - an honour roll of Singapore’s top-performing companies - are compiled by DP Info.

Using the audited results of more than 8,000 companies incorporated in Singapore, companies are ranked according to their sales, profit and return on equity performance. The rankings are co-produced by Ernst & Young Singapore.

Several major conferences and international meetings held in Singapore attracted a legion of new tourists to the republic, said DP Info.

The price people are prepared to pay for a room has also skyrocketed with demand. This trend looks set to continue with the Formula One in 2008 and the opening of the two new integrated resorts, DP Info said.

The top 1,000 local and foreign companies in Singapore have gone from strength to strength. After breaking through the $1 trillion turnover barrier last year, they have increased their combined sales by 11.8 per cent from $1.16 trillion last year to $1.29 trillion in this year’s ranking. Profits are also growing, up by 15.5 per cent to $83.53 billion.

Three companies won the Singapore 1000 honorary title for having achieved the same award for three years running. Shell Eastern Trading (Pte) Ltd won the honorary award for sales/turnover excellence - wholesale. SingTel won the net profit excellence-communications/tra-nsport/storage award. Toshiba Capital (Asia) Ltd won honours for sales/ turnover excellence - finance.

As in the previous year, oil companies occupied top spots in terms of sales generated. Shell Eastern Trading, BP Singapore and Vitol Asia Pte Ltd were ranked first, second and third.

Net profit-wise, SingTel, United Overseas Bank and DBS Group came in first, second and third.

A new ranking, return on equity (ROE) - which is absolute profit divided by shareholder equity - was introduced.

‘This inclusion of the ROE ranking makes it easy to compare the profit generated per dollar of capital that shareholders have invested in these companies,’ Chen Yew Nah, managing director of DP Info, said. Some of the winners for ROE excellence include Wing Tai Clothing Pte Ltd, Stahl Asia Pte Ltd and StarHub Mobile Pte Ltd.

SMEs which will be honoured for their high sales turnover include Citystate Travel Pte Ltd and Daiei Papers (SA) Pte Ltd.

Target Asset Management Pte Ltd and Helios Capital Management Pte Ltd are some of the winners for achieving high net profits.

Source : Business Times - 18 Jan 2008

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Miles to go before Singapore world-class

Miles to go before Singapore world-class

Reach of subway track per square kilometre is too low, study claims
By MATTHEW PHAN

(SINGAPORE) Singapore ranks poorly among global cities for the reach of its public transport system, according to a recent comparative study of 50 cities by Ooi Giok Ling from the National Institute of Education.
The Republic ranked 31st in terms of total length of public transportation lines per 1,000 people, Prof Ooi’s study shows.

The mediocre ranking is not a function of the country’s small size, said Kog Yue Chong, adjunct professor at the National University of Singapore, who presented Prof Ooi’s findings on her behalf at a public seminar on Wednesday.

Singapore has just 0.1 km of subway track per square kilometre, compared with 0.4 km for Hong Kong, 1 km for London, and 4 km for Paris, said Dr Kog.

‘We still have a very long way to go in terms of MRT transport. To reduce the car population, we need very good public transport,’ he said.

BT requested a copy of the study but did not get a reply. Prof Ooi is on medical leave. The findings reported here are from the presentation slides.

Out of the 50 cities, Singapore also ranked 37th in terms of total length of reserved public transportation routes per thousand people.

Singapore ranked 20th in terms of total number of public transport vehicles per million people.
It also ranked 44th in terms of daily trips made by foot per person, and 8th in terms of daily trips made on public transport per person.

The study covered major cities in Europe, the US, Australia, Japan, China, India, South-east Asia and the Middle East. The European cities did especially well, said Dr Kog.

He also said Singapore’s garden city concept does little for nature and biodiversity - a view echoed by many environmentalists here, including the Nature Society and its president Geh Min.

Instead, planners ought to think about urban biodiversity. Part of this, ironically, is to consider packing more people into a smaller area.

Cities should consider having higher population density, rather than expanding the urban area, said Dr Kog.

Singapore’s density versus that of other cities is ‘actually not high’, even though Singapore’s density is high on a country-wide basis, he said.

According to the City Mayors website, a Jan 2007 study ranked Singapore as the world’s 29th densest city. The cities denser than Singapore were all from developing countries like India (Mumbai is the world’s densest city), China and Latin America.

Within South-east Asia, Manila, Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh were also reported as denser than Singapore.

Dr Kog, who is president of East West Engineering Consultants, also said many buildings in Singapore are built in ways that force occupants to rely on air-conditioning, due to lack of ventilation.

The country cannot mandate against use of air-conditioning, but could legislate for building conditions that are less dependent on air-conditioning, he said.
Source : Business Times - 18 Jan 2008

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US$100,000 prize for winner that can come up with a smart search engine

US$100,000 prize for winner that can come up with a smart search engine

By Wong Mun Wai

SINGAPORE: If you have an idea for the next YouTube or Facebook, you could win US$100,000.

That’s the top prize in “The Star Challenge” competition to select winning ideas on how to develop technologies for a search engine that is smart enough to find content.

The task is to create technologies to help users navigate and identify material such as text, audio and video containing any word, even if that word has not been tagged by creators or users.

The worldwide competition is being run by A*STAR as part of the official opening of the Fusionopolis later this year.

The top five teams with the best search results will be identified and brought to Singapore for the finals in October.
Source : Channel NewsAsia - 18 Jan 2008

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Survey shows Singapore workers can expect 5% salary increase this year

Survey shows Singapore workers can expect 5% salary increase this year

By S Ramesh

SINGAPORE: According to ECA International’s Salary Trends Survey 2007-2008, workers in Asia can expect the highest salary increases this year.

ECA International is the world’s largest membership organisation for human resources, serving a network of over 4,000 HR professionals in 71 countries.

Its survey contains information collected from multinational companies about actual salary increases for last year and predicted increases for this year.

The results have indicated that Singapore workers could expect salary increases of 5 percent.

While this is below the regional average of 7.3 percent, it is still up from last year’s 4.5 percent. It is also a reflection of the longstanding trend of rising salary increases in Singapore.

ECA International’s general manager, Mr Lee Quane, said for a developed economy, Singapore’s level of wage increase is high. That is because companies are facing a relatively tight labour market – a trend that has shown little signs of changing this year.

Asked if current fears of a recession in the US would dampen salary increase projections, Mr Lee said “no”.

He said: “We see high turnover rates of staff in a lot of economies in Asia, like India, Singapore, Hong Kong and China. What this means is that people are moving elsewhere to other jobs for higher salaries, in general.

“Although companies in Singapore may pay an average of 5 percent (salary increase), this is actually quite conservative, and companies - despite the downturn in the US - may actually end up having to pay higher than average salary increases in order to hold on to their key staff.”

Meanwhile, the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) said its poll on a sample of 275 companies showed that wage increase for this year is about the same as that for last year, with the median at 4 percent.

SNEF’s executive director, Mr Koh Juan Kiat, said the organisation’s member companies are sticking to the recommendations of the National Wages Council, which noted that while economic growth remained healthy, there were downside risks such as a slowdown in the US economy and vulnerability of oil prices.

Hence, built-in wage increases must be sustainable and take into account productivity and company performance. The SNEF stressed that productivity growth for the first nine months of last year was relatively flat.
- CNA/so

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 18 Jan 2008

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