Yahoo open to new bids - if price is right

Yahoo open to new bids - if price is right

NEW YORK - YAHOO chief executive officer (CEO) Jerry Yang said he would be open to another bid from Microsoft or other companies at a price he considers appropriate.
Yahoo continues to speak with other companies about ways to increase its value, he said on Monday in a phone interview with Bloomberg News.

While the California-based company is not for sale, it would listen ’should somebody else come back some day and want to buy the company’, he said.

Yahoo, the most-visited United States website, turned down a US$33 a share offer from Microsoft, which withdrew its bid last Saturday. Yahoo’s rating was cut to ’sell’ by Citigroup and ThinkPanmure analysts on Monday, and its stock dropped 15 per cent.

‘The most important way to move the stock is to execute better,’ said Mr Yang, 39. ‘What I am going to do is be very proactive and discuss with as many shareholders as possible in the upcoming weeks or months about our strategy, where we are in the business, how we can execute.’

Yahoo’s operations are in ‘much better shape’ than they were three months ago, he added.

Yahoo fell US$4.30, the most in almost two years, to end at US$24.37 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading on Monday. The shares have gained 4.8 per cent this year.

Mr Yang, who co-founded Yahoo in 1995 with fellow Stanford University student David Filo, lost US$232.7 million (S$318.8 million) in the value of his Yahoo holdings on Monday.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a statement last Saturday that Yahoo had sought at least US$37 a share, a price he was unwilling to pay.

Yahoo, meanwhile, is discussing a pact with Google, which holds the largest share of the market for advertising on search engine results, two people familiar with the matter said. An agreement could come as soon as this week, one said.

BLOOMBERG NEWS

Source : Straits Times - 07 May 2008

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$20m carrot for building owners to go solar - Singapore

$20m carrot for building owners to go solar - Singapore

Govt scheme trims cost of tapping the sun for energy by 30% to 40%

By Jessica Cheam

TAPPING the sun’s energy has just been made easier for building owners.
The Government yesterday announced details of a $20 million scheme that could see as many as 100 solar projects sprout around Singapore in the next two years.

The carrot being dangled in front of private developers and building owners is a subsidy that trims the cost of a solar project by 30 per cent to 40 per cent.

The grant is capped at $1 million for each project.

Solar projects usually cost from $100,000 to a few million dollars, depending on the scale and technology used.

‘This is a very attractive offer… We expect keen interest from the industry,’ said Economic Development Board (EDB) managing director Ko Kheng Hwa, who unveiled the initiative yesterday at the annual Semicon Singapore conference at Suntec City.

The top priority of the Solar Capability Scheme, said Mr Ko, is to build up a critical mass of projects so as to develop manpower capabilities in Singapore’s fledgling solar industry.

‘We are focusing on boosting the demand side…so the local professionals will learn how to design good solar systems.’

The scheme, first mooted by Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran in Parliament in March, is the Government’s latest answer to increasing calls for incentives to kick-start the solar industry.

The sector has attracted headline investments in the last year, including a $6.3 billion giant solar manufacturing plant that Norwegian firm Renewable Energy Corp is building.

‘This scheme will go a long way in building up critical capabilities among various players in the solar energy ecosystem,’ said Mr Ko.

It starts with immediate effect and applies to new private buildings that meet a minimum Green Mark Gold standard, according to the EDB.

The Green Mark is a rating system developed by the Building and Construction Authority that rates buildings for their environmental impact and performance.

Developers like City Developments have already incorporated solar systems into new condos, which have been given the Green Mark stamp of approval.

Some factors that will determine the grant size include innovation, design, effectiveness and skills development, said Mr Ko.

The EDB also announced yesterday a new international advisory panel for clean energy that will hold its first meeting next month.

Industry players like Mr Christophe Inglin, the managing director of solar firm Phoenix Solar, hailed the new scheme, saying: ‘It’s the best news the industry has received for some time.

‘We’ve seen an increase in interest in solar systems. Hopefully, this boost will convince clients that solar is the way to go.’
Source : Straits Times - 07 May 2008

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Insurers reap one-off gains from changes in Singapore CPF rules

Insurers reap one-off gains from changes in Singapore CPF rules

Members rushed to invest their savings before new rules kicked in on April 1

By Michelle Tay
NOT UNUSUAL: ‘This is not an unexpected result, given the CPF rule change.’ — MR MARK O’DELL, president of the LIA, on the rush by CPF members to invest their savings before new CPF rules kicked in on April 1

THE new Central Provident Fund (CPF) rules that kicked in on April 1 sparked an extraordinary rush by members to withdraw cash from their Ordinary Accounts, so they could place their savings in other higher-earning investments.
About $1.72 billion was pulled out of CPF accounts in the first three months of the year, and re-invested in insurance and investment-related products, giving insurers one of their best quarters on record.

The Life Insurance Association (LIA) yesterday said the $1.72 billion of new CPF business premiums was 17 per cent higher than the last quarter of last year.

‘This is not an unexpected result, given the CPF rule change,’ said LIA president Mark O’Dell.

The new rules require members to keep a minimum of $20,000 each in their Ordinary and Special Accounts.

Excess cash can be invested in CPF-approved bonds, equity-linked funds, unit trusts and investment-linked insurance products.

That gave thousands of CPF members plenty of incentive to get their cash out before April 1 and place their savings in investments that could earn better returns, especially with inflation above 6 per cent.

That is why there is ‘a surge in business towards the end of the first quarter’, said Mr O’Dell.

One who joined the rush to re-invest was marketing coordinator Winnie Kwa, 24.

She had taken money from her Ordinary Account and invested it in regional equity funds with Manulife.

She first put in $5,000 in February last year and topped it up with $8,000 in March this year. That left just over $1,000 in her Ordinary Account. As the withdrawals occurred before April 1, she did not have to meet the $20,000 minimum balance rule.

‘My CPF was just sitting in my account and not earning a lot of interest, and I thought investing it could earn me more, with just a bit more risk,’ said Ms Kwa, adding that her initial investment of $5,000 in February last year had earned her 20 per cent returns by Christmas.

Interest rates are the critical factor.

Mr Apelles Poh, a financial planner with Professional Investment Advisory Services, said the rush to empty Ordinary Accounts before April 1 was understandable, given the relatively low rates the CPF paid.

Part of the new rules is that an extra 1 percentage point of interest is paid on the first $60,000 in a member’s combined CPF accounts, with up to $20,000 from the Ordinary Account, since the start of this year.

That means the Government has guaranteed a 3.5 per cent annual return for the first $20,000 in a person’s Ordinary Account, and 5 per cent a year for the remaining $40,000 in the Special, Medisave and Retirement Accounts (SMRA) for this year and the next.

The floor rate for the SMRA will be maintained at 4 per cent for the first two years beginning Jan 1 this year. After that, the 2.5 per cent floor rate will apply to all accounts.

‘People are looking for better returns than that, especially amid inflation fears. A yield of 6 per cent or 7 per cent in equity funds is considered by most to be a reasonable return,’ said Mr Poh.

With the new rules now in place, Mr O’Dell anticipates that the CPF Investment Scheme sector will experience a ’significant downward trend’ in the second quarter and, maybe, the following two quarters as well.

‘We expect about a 30 per cent reduction in the single premium market,’ he said.

On the whole, the life insurance sector recorded a total of $2.99 billion of new business premiums for the first quarter, up 53 per cent from a year earlier.

Source : Straits Times - 07 May 2008

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Finding next Singapore PM and team ‘overdue’

Finding next Singapore PM and team ‘overdue’

By Zakir Hussain

THERE is no time to waste in the search for Singapore’s next prime minister and team of political leaders, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made it clear yesterday.
Both events are ‘overdue’, he said, adding that at age 56, he needed to prepare for a handover that would take place ‘not so very long in the future’.

‘We are doing this now because it is not early, it is time,’ he said.

He also explained that those with the potential to become Singapore’s future leaders need time to learn the ropes and win the trust of their peers.

He was replying to a question on leadership renewal that was posed to him at a dialogue with 120 business leaders at the Thomson Reuters dialogue yesterday.

‘We would like to have a deep bench and we need to deepen our bench,’ he said.

‘The way we have worked it is not to have no change, but to have change which is well prepared so that, by the time it happens, it appears natural but, in fact, a significant transformation has taken place,’ he added.

‘And that’s how we moved from Lee Kuan Yew to Goh Chok Tong, and that’s how we moved from Goh Chok Tong to me,’ he said.

Mr Lee noted that when these handovers took place, many people said there were no surprises, but that was because a lot of work went in before.

After last month’s Cabinet reshuffle, Mr Lee told reporters he was seeking political talent in their 30s and early 40s, and hoped one of them would emerge as his successor.

But he stressed it was for the younger ministers and others of their generation to decide who the next prime minister would be.

Said Mr Lee yesterday: ‘It’s a uniquely Singaporean approach, I concede. Very few other countries do this.’

The search was also not just about the next prime minister, he pointed out.

‘You must assemble a team which is strong enough so that there’s a range of abilities and skills which complement one another. And amongst them, they will work out the dynamics and one of them will emerge and be the leader accepted by the team and accepted by Singapore,’ he said.

Mr Lee was also asked what he hoped the United States’ foreign policy would be under its next president.

He said he hoped whoever was in charge would pursue free trade, take a firm stand on the struggle against extremist terrorism, maintain a constructive relationship with China and other major powers, and ‘also have a bit of time in the midst of his - or her - many other preoccupations, to pay attention to Singapore and South-east Asia’.
Source : Business Times - 07 May 2008

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Yahoo chief signals open stance to Microsoft - NEW YORK

Yahoo chief signals open stance to Microsoft - NEW YORK

Jerry Yang says he has mixed feelings about breakdown of talks
(NEW YORK) Yahoo Inc chief Jerry Yang signalled a more open stance towards Microsoft Corp on Monday, saying that he had been seeking common ground when the software maker abruptly ended deal talks.
Mr Yang told Reuters that he had ‘mixed feelings’ about the weekend outcome, after investors showed their disappointment over the breakdown of negotiations by sending Yahoo shares down 15 per cent.

‘We were negotiating a way to find common ground and then on Saturday they chose to walk away,’ said the 39-year-old co-founder of the pioneering Internet company. ‘They started it and they walked away.’

Asked if Yahoo would still leave a door open for Microsoft to return, Mr Yang said: ‘If they have anything new to say, we would be open … I am more than willing to listen.’

After three months of negotiations, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer raised his offer for Yahoo to US$33 per share from an initial US$31, for a total deal value of about US$47.5 billion.

Mr Yang held out for US$37 per share, saying that even the sweetened offer did not value Yahoo properly for its Web search advertising technology, its prominence in selling display ads and its lucrative overseas holdings.

Some analysts said that Yahoo shares, which dropped US$4.30 to end at US$24.37 on Monday, could have fallen 30 per cent - closer to US$19.18, its price before Microsoft made its bid public on Feb 1. But the descent was cushioned by investors who are betting that Microsoft will eventually come back to the table.

‘This is going to play out over the next several months and there is still a chance Microsoft will buy the company for somewhere around US$33 a share,’ said Todd Dagres, general partner at venture capital fund Spark Capital. ‘What Microsoft is hoping is that Yahoo shareholders get militant.’

Shares of Microsoft rose initially on investor relief that it was not paying billions more for Yahoo, though the stock ended down slightly amid concerns about how the software maker would develop its Web strategy in the face of a dominant Google Inc.

‘I think US$33 was fairly generous for Yahoo and if Yahoo won’t accept it, they (Microsoft) did the right thing in walking,’ said Mike Binger, a fund manager at Thrivent Financial, which owned both Yahoo and Microsoft shares.

Microsoft courted Yahoo to capitalise on the rapidly growing market for Internet advertising, one that has long been served by Yahoo’s search, e-mail and Web communities.

It is also trying to fend off the expansion of Google, which has made inroads into Microsoft’s home turf with a portfolio of Web-based applications, e-mail and messaging.

But now that a deal has fallen apart, Google has emerged as the key beneficiary. Shares in the company rose 2.3 per cent.

‘Google has just kept their foot on the accelerator,’ said Derek Brown, an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald. ‘Neither Yahoo nor Microsoft in their current state seems to be a material competitive threat.’

Yahoo is likely to press alternative strategies in the coming weeks, including a search advertising partnership with Google and a deal for Time Warner’s AOL Internet unit.

A Google deal would boost Yahoo’s operating performance in the near term, but runs the risk of regulatory scrutiny over an alliance between the Internet’s top two players.

In a letter to Mr Yang over the weekend, Mr Ballmer warned that any deal between Yahoo and Google would be difficult to unravel and would preclude an agreement with Microsoft.

Mr Yang told Reuters that the company would take care to structure any new efforts to ‘preserve as much (as possible) long-term flexibility for Yahoo, both operationally and strategically.’ - Reuters

Source : Business Times - 07 May 2008

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Singapore Beach Rd building sold for $70m

Singapore Beach Rd building sold for $70m

Hirsch Bedner and Irish private equity firm turning asset into boutique offices
By KALPANA RASHIWALA

AN Irish private equity firm and renowned international interior design firm Hirsch Bedner Associates have bought 700 Beach Road, currently a small office, home office development named In-City Lofts, for a total $70 million.

700 Beach: The total investment of $73.5m works out to $1,097 psf of the enlarged total net lettable area
The duo will pump in a further $3.5 million to upgrade the eight-storey building and reposition it as a boutique office block.

The building has 8,500 to 12,000 sq ft floor plates, 4.5-metre ceiling heights and a roof terrace with a full-sized lap pool and gym facilities. When the refurbishment is completed in August this year, the property - located between Golden Mile Tower and Golden Mile Complex - will be renamed 700 Beach.

The spruce-up will increase the building’s existing net lettable area by about 5,000 sq ft to 67,000 sq ft - of which 12,000 sq ft will be owned by Hirsch Bedner and 55,000 sq ft by Fine Grain Property Consortium (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

The all-in investment of $73.5 million by the two parties works out to $1,097 per square foot of the enlarged total net lettable area. Hirsch Bedner has taken about one-and-a-half floors while Fine Grain has bought the remaining six-and-a-half levels.

The site’s lease was extended to 99 years starting April 2004, after the building was completed.

The interior design process of the refurbishment for the entire building is being handled by Hirsch Bedner, which will also move into the space it has bought. This will be the Los Angeles-based firm’s regional office, housing its 80-strong design team.

Fine Grain has appointed Jones Lang LaSalle to lease its space in the building. ‘The gross monthly per square foot asking rent is in the high single-digit range and we’re targeting MNCs who’re sensitive to high office rents in the CBD,’ says JLL regional director and head of markets Chris Archibold. JLL is in talks with three potential tenants for areas of various sizes, Mr Archibold added.

Assuming an average rent in the high-single digit range, the net property yield would be about 8 per cent, analysts say.

Fine Grain is 65 per cent controlled by Ireland-based investors led by Ronald Bolger, Singapore’s Honorary Consul General in Ireland and former managing partner of KPMG Ireland.

The other 35 per cent is controlled by Singapore- based investors led by Colin MacDonald and Wan Fook Kong. (Mr MacDonald is also managing director of McCraic Holdings, owner of Molly Malone’s Irish pub and BQ Bar). Mr MacDonald, his brother Alastair (a chartered accountant), Mr Bolger and Mr Wan are directors of Fine Grain.

700 Beach Road is Fine Grain’s first property acquisition in Singapore and the firm has allocated about $70-80 million more for further property purchases here in the next six months or so. ‘We’re targeting undervalued assets, overlooked by investors perhaps because of the properties’ current use or the way they’re being managed. We can refurbish and reposition such assets and seek to add value to existing buildings rather than build something from scratch,’ says Mr MacDonald, who is also Fine Grain’s CEO.

Fine Grain’s portion of the acquisition will be funded by 70 per cent debt, provided by Munich-based Hypo Real Estate Group.

700 Beach Road was sold by In-Space Pte Ltd, whose shareholders include Wee Chwee Heng of Kumpulan Akitek.

Source : Business Times - 07 May 2008

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Singapore ousting HK as top millionaire hub

Singapore ousting HK as top millionaire hub

China seen to be 3rd richest country by 2017: study
By NISHA RAMCHANDANI
(SINGAPORE) Singapore is expected to pull ahead of Hong Kong as home to the highest concentration of millionaires over the next decade, sealing its reputation as a wealth centre not just in Asia but worldwide.

And while the US and Japan should remain the top two largest global economies, emerging markets such as China, India, Russia and Brazil will make their presence felt more strongly.

Now ranked seventh in terms of total net worth, China will grab third place by 2017, bypassing several G7 countries to become the third-richest country, while India is expected to make its debut in the top 10 list at No 8. Russia and Brazil will also display significant growth, moving up from 19th to 11th place and 15th to 12th place respectively.

With the Economist Intelligence Unit, Barclays Wealth released a report yesterday that forecasts the evolution of the level and distribution of household wealth in 50 countries between 2007 and 2017. Household wealth was measured using three components - financial holdings such as cash and other liquid assets, non-financial holdings such as property, and an aggregate measure that combined the two.

Last year, Singapore trailed Hong Kong in highest wealth density, with 23.3 per cent of residents having wealth of more than US$1 million. But by 2017, Singapore is expected to see this figure grow to 40.7 per cent - some 436,000 households - in comparison to Hong Kong’s predicted 39.4 per cent.

According to the report, countries with the highest percentage of dollar millionaires tend to be small, densely populated financial centres such as Singapore and Switzerland.

In addition, the study revealed that the disproportionate distribution of wealth is expected to narrow as the concentration of wealthy households in Singapore, with US$3 million and US$5 million, is on an upward trend. Households with wealth of US$3 million will more than double from the current 5.1 per cent to 12.5 per cent, while those with US$5 million will almost triple from 2.1 per cent to 6 per cent.

Barclays Wealth chief executive for Asia-Pacific, Didier von Daeniken, pointed to Singapore’s recent efforts to shift its focus from manufacturing towards technology and financial services. In addition, the opening up of previously protected sectors, like financial services, and bilateral trade agreements serve as an impetus to garner foreign direct investment.

For China, wealth creation has stemmed largely from the stock market and real estate. Citing figures from Ernst & Young, the report said 464 IPOs were launched in China over the past three years, raising US$134 billion. As the country’s economy continues to expand, the average net worth per household is expected to quadruple, from US$18,000 in 2007 to US$74,000 10 years later.

‘Asia now represents 25 per cent of HNWI individual wealth globally but only about 10 per cent of the income of the major private banks,’ said Mr Daeniken. ‘Growth for private banks can come from two areas - more penetration of existing wealth and more wealth being created.’

In Asia, Barclays clients are typically entrepreneurs, a trend that is expected to remain in the future.
Source : Business Times - 07 May 2008

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Govt has arsenal to counter US-driven slowdown: Singapore PM Lee

Govt has arsenal to counter US-driven slowdown: Singapore PM Lee

In a crunch, it can pump-prime the economy and give targeted assistance
By CONRAD TAN

(SINGAPORE) Singapore is prepared to face any economic scenario that emerges from the current uncertain climate, including a prolonged downturn in the United States, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday.

PM Lee: Singapore is prepared to face any economic scenario that emerges from today’s uncertain climate
One option to fall back on would be to boost economic growth through government spending, including resuming construction projects that were earlier put on hold, he said.

‘If things do get bad, which cannot be ruled out - although it does not appear to be on the cards - we are not without recourse,’ he told a group of some 100 guests including chief executives, senior bankers and economists at a discussion hosted by Thomson Reuters.

‘If we need to move on fiscal policy to stimulate the economy, we can do that. If we have to have directed assistance to help the lower-income because unemployment has gone up - right now it’s at a very low level, but if that happens - we can do that.

‘And if I have to stimulate the economy or some sector of the economy, I can do that too.’ In the construction sector, for example, the government could restart projects that it had put on hold, he said.He also said that he wished that the government had ‘moved earlier’ to ease the office space crunch in the financial sector, which has grown so rapidly that prime office space rents have soared, prompting banks to move some of their staff and operations to out-of-town locations.

‘I wish we had moved our banking and financial centre six months earlier than we actually did. But at that time, the market looked cold and nobody was interested and we were unable to generate the interest for it to take off.’

But the government has since taken steps to build more office space, housing and schools to ease some of the capacity constraints, he said.

HSBC economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde asked Mr Lee if he thought that Singapore could be in danger of losing its lead over other countries in export competitiveness, especially given the recent disappointing growth figures for electronics exports.

Singapore’s non-oil domestic exports fell by 5.9 per cent in March, the steepest decline since February last year. Electronic exports shrank for the 14th month in a row.

Mr Lee said that the falling dollar value of electronics exports was likely to be an ‘inevitable trend’ - partly because ‘prices have been crashing’ even though the volume had risen - but that other sectors of manufacturing such as pharmaceuticals would provide support. ‘Our overall export numbers are not bad - could be better, but they’re not bad. I don’t think it is a sign of our losing export competitiveness.’

David Conner, chief executive of OCBC Bank, asked Mr Lee what he thought the reaction of other governments in the region to rising food prices and overall inflation was likely to be.

Mr Lee said that ‘it would be a pity’ if countries closed up their markets ‘because it’s really the markets that are going to make sure that the food goes where it’s needed and there’s enough for everybody to eat’.

He said that cooperation among the Asean countries was necessary ‘to make sure that we coordinate among ourselves and do not work against one another’.

Long-term problems affecting food supply such as under-investment in research and development would take time to solve, he said. ‘We must be prepared to see food prices up for some time.’

Separately, he told Reuters in an interview before the discussion that the Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) would not disclose as much detail about its investment portfolio as Singapore’s other state-owned fund, Temasek Holdings, despite pressure from foreign governments.

‘GIC and Temasek are different,’ he said. ‘We do not want to tell people exactly how much we have so it’s easier for them to make a run on the Singapore dollar.’

GIC, which invests Singapore’s foreign reserves overseas, is believed to be the world’s third largest sovereign wealth fund, with an estimated US$330 billion in assets under management, according to Morgan Stanley in February. Unlike Temasek, which began publishing an annual review of its portfolio in 2004 containing consolidated financial statements and its investment returns, GIC reveals only that it manages funds ‘in excess of US$100 billion’ on behalf of the government and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Source : Business Times - 07 May 2008

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Singapore Real broadband fight yet to come in new landscape

Singapore Real broadband fight yet to come in new landscape

Deal to lay infrastructure is just the first step; services on new highway will be the clincher
By WINSTON CHAI

(SINGAPORE) All three local telcos are vying for the right to build and own Singapore’s upcoming broadband network but industry experts believe the prize fight is not in the control of this infrastructure but the services that operators can provide using the high- speed links of the future.

Mr Price: Axia’s approach is usually strongly opposed by market incumbents since it produces new competition and results in a new way of doing business in the sector
This is because, unlike the current competitive landscape, Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) and StarHub will not gain a competitive advantage if the consortium they are backing clinches the government’s Network Company (NetCo) contract.

Under the tender, which closed on Monday, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) has mandated for the NetCo to ensure ‘open access’ and ’structural separation’.

Under the first stipulation, the winning NetCo (which will build and own the new broadband infrastructure) must provide transparent pricing and equal treatment to all companies keen on tapping the network. In addition, operators such as SingTel and StarHub are prohibited from having more than a 30 per cent stake in the NetCo if they want to provide Internet-related services using the new broadband highway.

‘The restrictions set up by IDA on building the next-generation NBN (national broadband network) will help to deter a monopoly market and encourage competition. The transparent pricing by the NetCo will help to ensure that the OpCo (operating company) and retail service providers get the same wholesale pricing and are able to compete with each other based on other factors like value-added services,’ said Kenneth Liew, a senior market analyst with technology research firm IDC Asia-Pacific.

SingTel has submitted a bid as part of OpenNet, a group led by Canada’s Axia NetMedia which includes two other members - Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and Singapore Power subsidiary SP Telecommunications.

StarHub, on the other hand, joined hands with MobileOne (M1) and Hong Kong’s City Telecom to make up the Infinity Consortium. Given that the Singapore telcos are unlikely to have more than a 30 per cent stake in the NetCo, City Telecom probably has a stake of at least 40 per cent in this - though it has not officially been announced.

IDA’s new broadband ecosystem is a dramatic shift from its current model in which SingTel and StarHub fully own their Internet pipes and provide broadband services at the same time. Smaller players have criticised the existing regime as being anti-competitive because they have to lease bandwidth from the incumbents, often at higher rates, while concurrently competing with them on the services front.

The regulator’s requirement for open access and structural separation will prevent a recurrence of this scenario and level the playing field. In return, the NetCo is almost assured of a stable, recurring revenue stream as companies will have to use its network as the conduit for delivering new ultra-fast Internet services.

‘SingTel has no distinct advantage (by being in OpenNet),’ Axia’s chairman and CEO Art Price openly admitted at a press briefing earlier this week. Axia has already adopted a modus operandi that mirrors IDA’s envisioned approach for its broadband network in Canada and France, with the former now generating an estimated $50 million in annual revenue - a smaller market than Singapore.

‘Axia’s approach is usually aggressively opposed by the telco and cable companies already operating in the market because the result is new competition and a transformation of the way business is done in the sector,’ he said.

So telcos that lose the bid could simply ride on the broadband network built by their rivals - or upgrade their existing network to compete, depending on what is more cost effective.

‘For telcos that have less or no fixed-line network coverage (such as M1), the NBN provides them with opportunities to expand into areas that were once harder for them to compete in without their own networks as they had to lease them from others,’ IDC’s Mr Liew explained.

Added Soh Siow Meng, a senior analyst at Current Analysis: ‘I think it should not be such a big blow for the losing team. Service providers and network operators are increasingly focusing on content and service delivery, and less on infrastructure ownership.’

Market sentiment appears to support both analyst views that the NetCo bid will not have a major impact on all three listed telcos. Both SingTel and StarHub closed 0.3 per cent down at $3.86 and $3 respectively at the close of trading yesterday. M1 dropped one cent to $1.98.
Source : Business Times - 07 May 2008

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Singapore PM Lee says Singapore will continue to develop financial sector

Singapore PM Lee says Singapore will continue to develop financial sector

By Wong Siew Ying

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Singapore will continue to develop the financial sector as more activities are being moved to the city-state.

Mr Lee, who was speaking to 120 bankers at the hour-long Thomson Reuters Dialogue on Tuesday, added that more would be done to ease capacity constraints, such as the crunch in office space and accommodation.

The financial sector in Singapore grew by some 17.5 percent last year. But the prime minister said Singapore needs to level up to cope with this upsurge in activities.

He said: “We are running up against constraints because we don’t have enough office space, we don’t have enough accommodation and rentals have gone up.

“We don’t have enough schools for the expatriates’ children. (But) we are addressing this – we are helping the United World College to build a new school in Tampines, and they told me that places are already fully taken.”

Mr Lee added that rentals are likely to come down, with more offices and apartments coming on stream in the next few years.

On the whole, he is optimistic that Singapore will be able to weather the economic slowdown in the US.

Responding to a question, Mr Lee said while the value of export in the electronics sector is down, the volume has increased and there are other sectors that are doing well within the manufacturing sector, such as the pharmaceutical and petrochemical businesses.

On the issue of inflation, the prime minister said food prices will continue to rise for some time as consumption continues to increase.

Another reason for the price hike is an under-investment in the agricultural sector previously. This shortage in food supply has resulted in hoarding and some countries have limited the export of rice.

Mr Lee said he hopes ASEAN member countries can coordinate efforts and not work against one another so as to ensure that rice gets to the people.

The topic of foreign talent was also raised at the dialogue session. Mr Lee said that like London and New York, Singapore needs to tap on a range of expertise from all over the world.

“We are not only a city, we are a country. We have to have a hard core of Singaporeans so that the character of the place remains Singaporean, while being cosmopolitan,” he said.

As for leadership renewal, Mr Lee said Singapore needs to keep it contestable while focusing on building a good team that can meet future challenges and find new ways of engaging the population.
- CNA/so
Source : Channel NewsAsia - 07 May 2008

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Singapore SM Goh urges private sector to take lead in S’pore-Libya investments

Singapore SM Goh urges private sector to take lead in S’pore-Libya investments

By Channel NewsAsia’s Asha Popatlal in Tripoli

TRIPOLI: The leaders of Singapore and Libya have called on the private sector to take the lead when it comes to investments between Singapore and Libya.

However, both governments have agreed to facilitate this and look at co-investments in a third country.

The agreement was reached at a meeting between Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong and former Libyan prime minister Shukri Ghanem. Mr Shukri is also the National Oil Corporation chairman and a well-known reformist.

One of the first stops for Senior Minister Goh when he arrived in Libya was to visit the Old City. With a street plan laid down as far back as Roman times, it remains a bustling area for small Libyan businesses.

However, the country has more ambitious plans after years of isolation due to UN sanctions.

Mr Goh was briefed on the plans at a welcome dinner hosted by Deputy Secretary-General of the People’s Committee, Mubarak Abdullah al Shamikh. The plans include investment opportunities in infrastructure, training, tourism and minerals.

With some European and Asian countries like Korea already starting to look towards Libya, Mr Goh and his host agreed that it would be good for Singapore companies to invest early.

In a meeting later in the day with former premier Shukri Ghanem, the leaders spoke not just of investing in each other’s countries, but also looking at a third country together.

Teng Theng Dar, CEO of Singapore Business Federation, said: “In very simple language, as a businessman, you love virgin markets. That means something very new, something that everyone can have a chance, where the space of growth is tremendous. And in my opinion, Libya appears to be a market of this character.”

One clear possibility is the hotel industry. With about 2,000 kilometres of coastline and no top-class resort hotel, there is good potential here for first movers.

There are currently about 12,000 hotel rooms here and the country is targeting to ramp this up to 50,000.

Louis Tay Heng Hock, Surbana International Consultants’ deputy regional director (Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa), said: “So there has to be quick build-up of hotel inventory if they are going to be able to sustain tourism growth.” - CNA/ir
Source : Channel NewsAsia - 07 May 2008

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Private sector to get S$20m for solar capability development - Singapore

Private sector to get S$20m for solar capability development - Singapore

SINGAPORE: The private sector can tap on S$20 million to offset part of the capital costs of installing solar technologies in new building projects, the Economic Development Board (EDB) announced on Tuesday.

The Solar Capability Scheme (SCS), launched at SEMICON Singapore 2008, is the latest programme by the Clean Energy Programme Office (CEPO). It seeks to build up the capabilities of companies through increased adoption of solar energy technologies.

The scheme also encourages innovative design and integration of solar technologies into energy efficient buildings. It applies to new building developments in the private sector which meet the required standard.

The amount of financial support for each qualifying project will be assessed
on factors such as innovation, design, effectiveness and skills development in the proposed solutions.

Financial support will range from 30 to 40 per cent of the capital cost of the solar solution and capped at S$1 million per project.

The EDB said applications for existing buildings undergoing extensive retrofit will be considered on a case by case basis.

Last year, the government announced a total of S$350 million from various agencies to support the development of the Clean Energy industry.

Singapore aims to grow the Clean Energy industry to generate S$1.7 billion in value-added and 7,000 jobs by 2015. - CNA/ac

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 07 May 2008

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Singapore High Court to decide in tussle over Katong houses

Singapore High Court to decide in tussle over Katong houses

By Ansley Ng, TODAY

SINGAPORE: Almost 30 years ago, when Mr Loo Chay Sit was going through a divorce after just a few years of marriage, he transferred a piece of newly-bought property at Margate Road near Katong to the name of his younger brother Chay Loo.

Years later, in 1986, his mother, Mdm Tan Chan Tee, registered another property in Seraya Lane, also in Katong in the name of Chay Loo’s wife, Madam Chen Tsui Yu.

Now, Mdm Tan, 80, and her elder son, who is 57, is suing Mdm Chen, 53, to recover the two homes, following Chay Loo’s death in San Francisco in May 2005 at the age of 51. Earlier, he had tried to commit suicide while in police custody, following an apparent murder-and-suicide bid.

Following his death, both Mdm Tan and Mr Loo secured default judgments which transferred both properties back to them. Mr Loo then sold the Margate Road house for S$4.8 million.

However, a year later, both judgments were set aside.

The case is now before the High Court for Justice Judith Prakash to determine who had bought and paid for the two properties and if the properties should be returned to Mr Loo and his mother.

In his opening statement, Mr Loo’s lawyer Low Chai Chong said his client bought the Margate Road property in 1978 for S$195,000 using his own funds, but later transferred it to his younger brother’s name when he was going through a divorce.

Said Mr Low: “Loo Chay Loo knew that the house was conveyed in his name only for the sake of convenience. He did not pay for the house or make any contribution towards the purchase price at all.”

In transferring ownership of the home to his younger brother before his divorce came through, Mr Loo had not broken any laws since the courts at that time would not divide assets because of the brevity of the marriage, said Mr Low.

The Seraya Lane property, he added, was transferred to Mdm Chen at her husband’s suggestion.

Countering, Mdm Chen’s lawyer, Mr Daniel Tan, said the Seraya Lane property was conveyed in his client’s name after Mdm Chen and her late husband approached Mdm Tan in 1987 for help to raise a sum of money when they were setting up a travel agency.

The mother has to-date not produced any documentary evidence to support her claim that she paid for the Seraya property, said Mr Tan.

The property, he added, had in fact been sold to Mdm Chen in April 1987 for $550,000.

The older Mr Loo has never demanded for a transfer of the Margate Road property to himself when his younger brother was alive, the lawyer added.

“It was only when the deceased fell into a coma that Mr Loo hastily commenced proceedings and claimed that the Margate Road property was held in trust for him,” said Mr Tan. “His sudden claim is not only baseless and unsupported by evidence, but also suspect and lacking in good faith.”

Both Mdm Chen and Mr Loo were in court on Monday but exchanged few glances. Mdm Tan was not in court. The hearing is set for 10 days. - TODAY/ar
Source : Channel NewsAsia - 07 May 2008

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Developers may get grants of up to S$1m when installing solar panels - Singapore

Developers may get grants of up to S$1m when installing solar panels - Singapore

By Ng Baoying,

SINGAPORE: The Economic Development Board (EDB) has unveiled more details of the Solar Capability Scheme, aimed at spurring demand for clean technology and building up expertise in the new industry.

The S$20 million scheme was first announced in Parliament in April by Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry, S Iswaran.

The EDB said it expects to fund up to 100 projects.

Under the scheme, new buildings need a minimum Green Mark Gold standard to qualify for a 30 to 40 per cent grant, while existing buildings will be assessed on a case by case basis.

Ko Kheng Hwa, Managing Director, Economic Development Board, said: “We expect interest, and this interest should grow as greater awareness seeps into the industry. Today, the very early adopters are already implementing some form of solar energy systems.

“So with this scheme, we are partially offsetting their initial capital investment, so we should expect that this will be welcomed by the developers and building owners.”

Besides meeting the required standard, other criteria include the innovative application of solar technologies and the aesthetics of the panels as part of the buildings and solar system design.

A seven-member Clean Energy International Advisory Panel has also been formed to help spur industries towards clean energy.

Led by EDB’s Chairman Lim Siong Guan, the panel will meet for the first time in June. It is tasked to give advice on the overall development of the clean energy industry in Singapore. - CNA/vm

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 07 May 2008

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