Scotts Square at Scotts Road - Singapore - District 09 -10

Scotts Square at Scotts Road - Singapore - District 09 -10

The Scotts shopping center and the Ascott service apartment, in grand Hyatt and between the Marriott hotel, are now demolished provides for new Scotts square - 43 storey luxurious housing towers the real estate stand which an great lifelong holds by 338 unit international quality -, two and three between bedroom apartment and a fashionable retail sales control tower need every day for you.

General Information

Location: 8 Scotts Road (District 09)
Tenure: Freehold
Total Units: 338
43 storey

Unit Types:
1Bedroom - 624-635sqft
2Bedroom - 893-947sqft
3Bedroom - 1227-1249sqft

Facilities:
verandah
drawing room
viewing lounge
retreat
Eco pond
The oasis
Sky pool & Jacuzzi (level 35, Orchard Wing)
Sculpture garden
Jacuzzi
Wading pool
Swimming pool
fitness room (level 10)
recreation room
Concierge desk
reading and business room
Real estate in Singapore - properties of Singapore, Buy, sales, rents, investment,

MINDY YONG

( +65 ) 91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com ( email me )

http://www.hotvictory.com

One Devonshire at Devonshire - Singapore - District 09 - 10

ONE DEVONSHIRE at Devonshire - Singapore - District 09 - 10

191 units

36 floors

4 storey carpark

Facilities:
- Tennis Court
- Swimming Pool
- Clubhouse
- etc

Real estate in Singapore - properties of Singapore, Buy, sales, rents, investment,

MINDY YONG

( +65 ) 91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com ( email me )

http://www.hotvictory.com

Singapore and Portugal in open skies agreement

Singapore and Portugal in open skies agreement
SINGAPORE and Portugal have concluded an open skies agreement (OSA) for full flexibility on air services by carriers of both countries. It will become fully effective in the International Air Transport Association (Iata) scheduling season for the northern summer in 2010.
Under the agreement, Singapore carriers will be able to operate frequent flights between Singapore and points in Portugal, as well as beyond to other cities in the world. Likewise, Portuguese carriers will be able to operate any number of services to and beyond Singapore.

The agreement was reached on Feb 27, during air services consultations which took place in Lisbon, Portugal, between the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and Instituto Nacional de Aviacao Civil (INAC).

Singapore has established OSAs with more than 25 countries to date, of which 14 are in the European Union. Among the more recent ones are three bilateral OSAs with the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Norway and Sweden in January this year.
Source : Business Times   - 05 March 2008

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Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

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Three new cooperatives to aid jobless women, others - Singapore

Three new cooperatives to aid jobless women, others - Singapore
THE Singapore National Cooperative Federation (SNCF) yesterday announced three new cooperatives aiming to help unemployed women and individuals. ‘We hope to provide new job opportunities through these enterprises, recognising there will always be groups facing economic difficulty,’ said SNCF chairman Seah Kian Peng, who is also an MP in Marine Parade GRC. ‘Through the cooperatives we equip them with skills and opportunities for long-term employment.’
To be officially launched next Wednesday is South West CDC’s set-up, which targets low-wage female workers and non-working women unable to commit to working full time. It caters for home-based work, namely, a range of goods like handicrafts and providing services like domestic cleaning.

The second is Women’s Initiative for Ageing Successfully (WINGS), which started as a non-profit centre helping women above 40. It will help them to work either from WINGS’s craft centre or from home, creating flexibility by providing such services as babysitting services and elderly companion services.

The third is Community Kitchen, an existing Social Enterprise catering and bakery business in the North West CDC.

It aims to help individuals unemployed for a long time. Its expanded role as a cooperative will allow individuals to take up jobs in either food preparation or sales, with a longer term goal of encouraging confident entrepreneurship.

The cooperatives can obtain up to 80 per cent funding from the Central Co-operative Fund (CCF) for the first three years on a case-by-case basis.
 

Source : Business Times   - 05 March 2008

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Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

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Business research in Asia on the rise, says UK firm -KADENCE Group

Business research in Asia on the rise, says UK firm -KADENCE Group

US$2m sales in Singapore makes up 21.5% of Kadence’s global revenue
By OH BOON PING

KADENCE Group, a business intelligence firm from the UK, sees growing demand for research services here and across the region, despite the current economic uncertainty.
Regional managing director Piers Lee said: ‘Asia is just starting to catch up with the developed markets like US and Europe, and we see strong growth in the business research area.’

Last year, the firm reported sales of US$2 million in Singapore, or 21.5 per cent of its global revenue of US$9.3 million - spanning operations in Boston, London, New Delhi, Kuala Lumpur and Sydney.

Mr Lee predicts that turnover in Singapore will grow at about 15 per cent in the coming years, as a result of the many corporate headquarters here ‘that commission such (business intelligence) work regionally’, and factors such as the high standard of English here, ‘plus a multitude of Asian languages that facilitate undertaking regional business intelligence studies’.

During the year, Kadence also strengthened its presence in Asia with two new openings in Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.

New offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai are scheduled by the end of the year. In Singapore, the plan is to raise the headcount to 20 from the current 12, by the end of the year.
 
Across the region, Mr Lee said, business research accounts for only 10 per cent of the market research activity, meaning ‘growth could be even more rapid, possibly double the region’s GDP growth’. Therefore, a slowdown is not expected despite the uncertain economic environment.

Elsewhere in the world, Kadence said that it won some significant new business throughout the past year ‘on the strength of our international reach and experience in conducting and delivering global research projects’.

Some of the recent business intelligence trends include greater research emphasis on branding and corporate social responsibility, and growing numbers of Chinese and Indian research firms conducting market studies on developed markets such as US and Europe.

‘Most of these firms are servicing their domestic customers that are planning to penetrate the consumer markets in the developed world,’ Mr Lee said.

Also to note is the higher demand among business-to-business clients for market insight, as opposed to pure data.

‘All research is aimed at providing competitive advantage, but as markets mature, figures and statistics are no longer providing the required data,’ said Mr Lee.

Data generation, he said, is therefore now only part of a study - the real differentiator and end result is the market insight delivered by specialist analysts based on the study’s findings.
Source : Business Times   - 05 March 2008

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Mindy Yong

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Foreign workers a boon: Singapore minister

Foreign workers a boon: Singapore minister

By LEE U-WEN
THE secret of Singapore’s strong job growth, according to Manpower Minister Ng Eng Hen, is not to rely solely on locals to fill the vacancies. Instead, it was the ministry allowing businesses here to readily tap foreign workers to meet their needs that has proven to be the Republic’s key competitive advantage, said Dr Ng in Parliament yesterday.
‘If we had relied on our limited manpower supply, growth would be slower and fewer jobs would be created. This is the experience in other countries that tend to close their labour markets,’ he told the House.

Some MPs were concerned that the government’s recent moves to relax the rules on hiring foreign workers had dented opportunities for locals. But Dr Ng reassured them this was hardly the case.

‘The unemployment rate among local polytechnic diploma-holders has fallen from 5.6 per cent in June 2004 - before the introduction of the ‘S’ pass (for foreign skilled workers) - to 3.4 per cent in June 2007. Last year, we saw a 47 per cent increase in the number of job vacancies requiring at least a diploma qualification,’ said Dr Ng.

To further boost productivity, MPs such as Josephine Teo (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC) suggested that foreign worker access could be linked to industry upgrading and re-development efforts. Another suggestion was to have employers show that they had put in enough effort to hire locals before being allowed to hire foreigners.
 
Dr Ng disagreed with both ideas. ‘It would be both ineffective and counter-productive to tie foreign worker quotas to specific outcomes. Doing so would restrict the growth of companies, especially in this tight labour market, and in turn reduce job opportunities for locals.’

The solution, then, is a three-pronged effort. First, re-create more jobs to boost workers’ value and productivity. Second, get companies to upgrade. Lastly, develop a ‘first-class Continuing Education and Training (CET) system to help our workforce stay ahead’, said Dr Ng. As such, the Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund will be topped up to $3 billion. More CET centres, too, will be developed to benefit adult learners, while an Institute for Adult Learning will also be set up to conduct research and develop new training methods.
Source : Business Times   - 05 March 2008

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Mindy Yong

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mindy@mindyyong.com

Parkway got the medicine right for Novena deal? - Singapore

Parkway got the medicine right for Novena deal? - Singapore

By CHEN HUIFEN
AS THE property investment chant goes, there are three factors that one needs to consider in a purchase: location, location, and location.
But for a hospital operator, does location count too?

In Parkway Holdings’ case, apparently it does.

Having been punished by the market recently for paying what is considered an exorbitant price for a piece of land in Novena, Parkway has been taking pains to explain the rationale for its bid.

A key reason was the group’s need for new capacity, given that its existing Mt Elizabeth, Gleneagles and East Shore hospitals are already facing expansion constraints. The group has had to move out some of its administrative functions from the hospital premises in recent years.

And the trend is not unique to Parkway. Also in close proximity to Novena, Thomson Medical Centre, too, has shifted its non-clinical functions across the road from its hospital building. And even in the public sector, administrative staff at Tan Tock Seng Hospital will soon have to operate from temporary offices in containers as a result of the space crunch.

Adding to the urgency is the long lead time required to build up a hospital from a green field before it becomes operational. That means development work has to start now to cope with the rising demand for hospitals in the coming years.

Considering that about 60 per cent of its patients today are foreigners, Parkway’s new venture is aimed at capturing this pool which is growing at double-digit pace a year. And as major projects like the integrated resorts take shape, more high net worth individuals and expatriates descending here could use the ‘hospital of the future’ and six-star services that Parkway plans to deliver.

Critics would argue that all these plans could still be delivered without such an aggressive bid. As Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan has announced previously, three other land parcels have been identified for the construction of private hospitals. One of them will be in Outram, another in Buona Vista, and the third in the northern part of the island. It is not known when the sites would be released.

Compared to the rest, the Novena location appears to be the most strategic one for Parkway. Being minutes away from the Orchard Road shopping belt, and easily accessible by MRT, it would be attractive to international patients looking to combine their healthcare needs with leisure.

It would also be easier for incoming overseas patients who come with their families to find temporary accommodation in close proximity to the Novena hospital. Apart from the Newton/Orchard Road area, foreign patients could also look towards upcoming commerce-hotel projects at nearby Sinaran Drive and Race Course Road.

Right next door, doctors taking up space at Far East Organisation’s Novena Medical Suites add another potential pool of users to Parkway’s Novena Hospital. It could provide that extra wing, like what Paragon Medical Centre is to Mt Elizabeth Hospital now.

Clearly, clinching the Novena site is paramount to its expansion. With a rising expatriate population and more than 400,000 foreign patients arriving in Singapore every year, getting a new hospital up and running in time is pivotal for it to maintain its lead in the private healthcare space.

Parkway itself has said its new venture will set a new benchmark in private healthcare here. It will have an emphasis on cardiovascular disease, oncology, and orthopedics, and healthcare delivery designed with a great deal of attention to individual patients.

At $1,600 psf per plot ratio, the bid works out to more than $1.2 billion just for the 99-year leasehold land. Add another $500 million to the development cost and the total bill comes closer to $2 billion.

When compared to the next highest bid of $694.50, the price is seen as excessive. But seen against the light of the location’s potential, Parkway may have the last laugh in the longer term.
Source : Business Times   - 05 March 2008

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Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

KepLand to launch US$206m Vietnam project in Q4 - Singapore

KepLand to launch US$206m Vietnam project in Q4 - Singapore

By ARTHUR SIM
AFTER announcing eight new development projects in Vietnam last year, Keppel Land plans to launch one of these in the fourth quarter of this year.
In a statement released yesterday, Keppel Land said that it has been awarded the investment certificate by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee for its new waterfront residential development in Vietnam.

The joint-venture project, to be developed in phases, is a 2,400-unit condominium development in District 7 fronting the Ca Cam River in Ho Chi Minh City. The first phase, comprising 700 units, is expected to be launched in the fourth quarter.

The total investment capital for the project is estimated to be US$206 million. Riviera Point, the joint-venture company undertaking the project, will have a registered capital of US$62 million. Keppel Land, through a wholly owned subsidiary, Elaenia Pte Ltd, will take a 75 per cent or US$46.5 million stake in Riviera, with Tan Truong Co Ltd taking the remaining 25 per cent.

Keppel Land International executive director and CEO Ang Wee Gee said that its earlier projects in Vietnam, like the fully sold Villa Riviera and Phase One of the 1,500-unit The Estella, have been well received.

‘With rising affluence and exposure afforded by travel overseas, Vietnamese home-buyers have become more discerning about quality and the lifestyle associated with their homes,’ he added.

The luxury condominium to be developed will sit on an 8.5-ha site. It will have recreational facilities including a clubhouse, a swimming pool and tennis courts and 24-hour security.

The news of the launch of this development comes after Keppel Land recently revealed plans for its Saigon Centre, a retail and financial complex of three towers, with its tallest tower of 88 storeys expected to be among the world’s tallest.

Keppel Land also has a pipeline of over 25,000 homes in the Vietnamese cities of Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Dong Nai.
Source : Business Times   - 05 March 2008

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Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

Singapore tops among Asian expats: survey - Singapore

Singapore tops among Asian expats: survey - Singapore

The Republic is the best place for them to live worldwide; Baghdad ranks last
By QUAH CHIN CHIN
(SINGAPORE) The Republic ranks as the best place for Asian expatriates to live worldwide, according to the latest survey by human resources consultancy firm ECA International.
Singapore surpasses cosmopolitan cities such as Sydney, Melbourne and Copenhagen in Asian expatriates’ view, the survey showed. These cities are ranked second, third and fifth respectively in the top 15 locations for Asian expatriate living.

Meanwhile, Kobe (joint third with Melbourne), Yokohama (eighth), Tokyo and Hong Kong (both 15th) are the only other Asian destinations that made it to the top 15 list.

Conducted annually, the Location Ranking Survey compares living standards in 254 locations globally, taking into account climate, air quality, health services, housing and utilities, isolation, social network and leisure facilities, infrastructure, personal safety and political tensions.

‘High quality infrastructure and health facilities, combined with low health risks, air pollution, crime rates and a cosmopolitan population, make Singapore a very appealing location for Asians to live in,’ said Lee Quane, general manager of ECA International.

‘Although we did see a small deterioration in some factors, such as air quality and accommodation in 2007, it still retains its status as being the location with the best quality of living for assignees in this region.’

He explained that Singapore ‘was much more affected by haze in 2007′ compared with the preceding year, causing it to lose points in the air quality category. Meanwhile, ‘recent market developments in en bloc (property sales) had an impact on the supply of standard accommodation’.

Nevertheless, Singapore has consistently been ranked the best location for Asian expats to live for a decade, said Mr Quane, who believes that it will retain that spot despite ‘Hong Kong moving up our rankings’ this year after sliding for several years, due to improved personal security scores and the movements of locations around it.

‘We now see the narrowing in quality of living between Singapore and Hong Kong, but it is unlikely that Hong Kong will match Singapore. The main reason is (Hong Kong’s) air pollution, which is unlikely to go away any time soon,’ he explained.

At the other extreme, Baghdad is the least favourable place for Asian expats to live in, followed by Kabul (Afghanistan), Karachi (Pakistan) and Port-au-Prince (Haiti), due to the locations’ risk to personal security and their lack of suitable facilities, according to the survey.

Source : Business Times   - 05 March 2008

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Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

US economy already in recession: Buffett -GOING SOUTH

US economy already in recession: Buffett  -GOING SOUTH

He sees slowdown across the board; withdraws offer to guarantee bonds
GOING SOUTH: The US is slowing down significantly, but economic conditions have not deteriorated to the deep recession levels of 1973 and 1974, says Mr Buffett. — PHOTO: AFP
 
NEW YORK - BILLIONAIRE investor Warren Buffett said the United States economy is in a recession and that stocks are ‘not cheap’ despite recent declines.
He also said he is no longer offering to guarantee US$800 billion (S$1.12 trillion) of municipal bonds backed by MBIA, Ambac Financial Group and FGIC, three bond insurers that ran into trouble from backing riskier debt.

Speaking on CNBC television on Monday, Mr Buffett said the economy is heading south even though gross domestic product (GDP) has not yet fallen for two straight quarters, a definition that many economists use to identify a recession.

He also said the slowing economy and the housing slump are hurting his insurance and investment company Berkshire Hathaway, whose 76 operating units sell things such as bricks, real estate brokerage services and underwear.

‘By any common sense definition, we are in a recession,’ Mr Buffett said. ‘Business is slowing down. We have retail stores in candy, home furnishings and jewellery. Across the board, I’m seeing a significant slowdown.’

Last week, the Commerce Department said America’s GDP rose at an annual rate of just 0.6 per cent in the fourth quarter.

Mr Buffett, 77, is one of the world’s richest people and is regarded by many as America’s greatest investor. Forbes magazine last September estimated his net worth at US$52 billion.

He said economic conditions have not deteriorated to the levels of 1973 and 1974, when there was a deep recession also marked by rising oil prices and falling stocks.

On Feb 12, Mr Buffett offered to reinsure US$800 billion of relatively safe municipal bonds, which are typically used to finance things such as hospitals, roads and schools. But he offered to back the bonds only at a steep premium. His offer also excluded risky debt, including securities tied to US sub-prime mortgages.

Bond insurers rejected the offer and have been seeking new sources of capital. Some have also been considering separating their municipal bond business from riskier businesses.

Mr Buffett on Monday said his earlier offer is now ‘not on the table’, and added that ‘we tossed our hat in the ring and they tossed the hat back’.

REUTERS

Source : Straits Times   - 05 March 2008

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com