S. Korean investment bank opens office in Singapore

S. Korean investment bank opens office in Singapore

By Ong Hui bi

A South Korean investment firm is setting up a regional base in Singapore with an emphasis on the provision of financial services companies and mergers and acquisitions advice.

Woori Investment and Securities Asia, the first Korean investment bank to open here, has invested $ 50 million (S $ 68.9 million) to set up its office at OUB Centre.

Operations began yesterday with a staff of 15, but the company, who is also trade in securities and real estate services, hopes to double that by next year.

His mother, Woori Financial Group, is the largest finance company in South Korea in terms of total assets - U.S. $ 307 billion - and shareholders ‘equity, amounting to 14 million dollars.
Mr. Park Jong Soo, president of Woori Investment and Securities, the international arm of the local branch, expects more South Korean investment banks to follow its way to Singapore.
Mr. Park said South Korea ‘economy has remarkably increased during the last five years, particularly in the manufacturing sector, with giants like Samsung and LG Group to expand their international footprint.

But its financial sector has not yet ‘reach the level of globalization enjoyed by the manufacturing sector’, he said.

“Thus, in order to accelerate the pace of Korea ’s financial sector, financial institutions must develop outside Korea,’ he added.

The firm chose Singapore as South-east Asian centre because of its reputation as a world-class financial centre and its first location.
Woori will also start a hedge fund - Woori absolute Partners - which must be registered by the end of next month.

The firm has also opened an office in Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta today to next month, and branches in India and Thailand next year.

Source : Straits Times - 18 jun 2008

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Singapore Tampines residential site up for tender

Singapore Tampines residential site up for tender

Offer seen as acid test for property market after recent signs of upswing

By Joyce Teo, Property Correspondent

A NEW home site on offer in Tampines, overlooking Bedok Reservoir, could shape up as an acid test for the property market after recent signs of a revival.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday invited developers to submit bids for the 3.2ha site at the junction of Tampines avenues 1 and 10.

Some property consultants said the 99-year leasehold site’s suburban location meant completed homes could command prices of up to $700 per sq ft (psf), which is slightly higher than neighbouring condominiums.

They say the land could fetch anywhere between $107 million and $165 million.

The site, with a maximum gross floor area of 66,655 sq m, is next to The Tropica condo, where caveats show recent deals were done for between $547 psf and $622 psf, or $590,000 to $1.13 million.

Other nearby condos include Aquarius By The Park, The Clearwater and the recently completed Baywater, which fetched $600 psf to $680 psf.

CONSULTANTS DIVIDED OVER LAND PRICE
Some consultants expect the site to fetch prices of $200 to $230 psf per plot ratio. But others expect a more cautious response, saying bids could come in as low as $150 to $180 psf per plot ratio.

Mr Leonard Tay, director of research at CBRE, said: ‘Based on these comparables and taking into account higher construction costs, we expect that a new 99-year leasehold project in this location may fetch prices of around $700 psf.’

This would translate to a possible land price of $200 to $230 psf per plot ratio for the site, he added.

But some others expect a more cautious response, in view of the current fairly quiet market and the risk of falling prices.

On Monday, the URA released figures showing that private home sales had rebounded from the previous months’ lows. But the sales were still way below last year’s figures.

Consultants such as Ms Tay Huey Ying of Colliers International said the upswing in activity could be the result of developers testing the market with launches.

Mr Ku Swee Yong, Savills Singapore’s director of business development and marketing, said bids for the Tampines plot could come in as low as $150 to $180 psf per plot ratio.

At this price, the successful developer could sell the apartments for $650 psf to $700 psf, he added.

Although the site fronts Bedok Reservoir, not all the apartments will have a view of the lake, said Mr Ku.

Mr Tay said that as the site is on the north-western boundary of Tampines New Town, it is about five to 10 minutes’ drive from Tampines Central and Tampines MRT station.

Residents can also head for Tampines Retail Park on Tampines Avenue 10, where Giant, Ikea and Courts are located, he added.

The tender for the Tampines site will close on Aug 12.

It is a confirmed list site under the Government’s land sales programme. These sites go on sale on specified dates.

The Government also sells land under a reserve list, in which sites are put up for sale only after developers have indicated interest by committing to a minimum bid.

This month, the Government is expected to announce its land sales programme for the second half of the year.

Source : Straits Times - 18 jun 2008

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Higher Singapore ERP rates and new gantries from July 7

Higher Singapore ERP rates and new gantries from July 7

Changes are aimed at making city traffic flow smoothly in the evenings

TOP up that CashCard. Driving into the city is going to cost more.

Five new gantries along the banks of the Singapore River go live from July 7, bringing the total number islandwide to 65.

Gantries in the business district will stay on an extra hour, to 8pm on weekdays, and on Saturdays, Orchard Road gantries will start an hour earlier, at 11am.

Higher Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) charges kick in, too. Motorists will pay up to $2 more in the most extensive review of tolls since the first gantry went up 10 years ago.

The focus of this review is to speed up city traffic, especially from 6pm to 8pm.

Average speeds along North Bridge Road and South Bridge Road have dropped from about 25kmh in 2002 to 19kmh last month.

To speed things up, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) is making three changes, starting with how ERP is charged.

‘When a motorist has paid whatever the going rate is to use the road, we want him to be able to have a smooth journey. The problem now with the average speed measurement is that the majority of people who pay do not get that experience,’ said an LTA spokesman.

From July 7, motorists will get to travel at speeds above 20kmh on arterial roads and at least 45kmh on expressways, at least 85 per cent of the time, up from just half the time now.

The new criteria will be used in the city centre first, before being extended to other gantries over the next seven months.

Another change being made affects the actual ERP charges. All new gantries will start with $2 deductions and as speeds deteriorate, each jump will be $1.

Over the last 10 years, it has become increasingly more difficult to deter motorists with 50-cent jumps. In 2006, it took nine rate hikes to do the job. Last year, 25 adjustments were needed, said LTA.

The last change - adding five new gantries along the Singapore River - is aimed at discouraging motorists from using city roads as a short cut.

These initiatives were first mentioned in January as part of a new transport masterplan aimed at getting more people onto public transport.

Since then, extra train and bus services and higher fuel prices have helped move some motorists off the roads.

Public transport ridership hit a record 4.78 million rides a day in the first three months of this year.

But this is not enough to postpone ERP rate hikes, said LTA. Average speeds along Bras Basah Road, for example, are down from about 30kmh in 2002 to about 22kmh last month.

Higher inflation is also not a reason to put it off.

Mr Cedric Foo, head of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Transport, said: ‘We should not mix up road usage measures like ERP with means to cope with general inflation.’

LTA added that holding off the ERP changes can lead to bigger economic problems due to congestion.

Motorists will get some relief in the form of lower road tax from next month. Vehicle registration fees were also lowered in March.

Mr Ong Kian Min, deputy chairman, GPC (Transport), added: ‘With the change in how ERP charges are determined, motorists are given the Government’s assurance that if you pay to use the road, you can enjoy a smooth ride.’

Source : Straits Times - 18 jun 2008

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Rising construction costs put squeeze on builders - Singapore

Rising construction costs put squeeze on builders - Singapore

Some manage to factor into contracts the higher risks of price fluctuations

By ARTHUR SIM

(SINGAPORE) Construction costs have risen across the board by at least about 13 per cent in Singapore in the six months to end-March. And for the residential/ condominium segment, costs have risen even faster, by as much as 16 per cent, according to a report by construction cost consultancy Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB).

The rise comes in the light of a 23 per cent increase in the Building and Construction Authority’s tender price index in Q4 2007 on a year-on-year basis, making Singapore among the most expensive in the world.

At the top end in Q1 2008, the construction cost for a luxury condominium, a five-star hotel and a 55-storey office now comes to as much as $4,000-$5,500, $5,650-$7,680 and $4,960-$5,660 psm per gross floor area (GFA) respectively, according to RLB.

Says RLB managing partner Winston Hauw: ‘High demand and competition for limited resources, the lack of tendering capacity among contractors, sub-contractors and suppliers, and volatile commodity prices have contributed significantly to building price escalation.’

RLB also found that the prices of crude oil, copper and aluminium have increased by 22-26 per cent between January and April.

According to RLB’s 2007 data, Singapore ranks after Macau and Hong Kong on its tender price relativity matrix. Against this index with Hong Kong at 100, Singapore is 97 while Macau is 102. London is 144, New York is 140 and Sydney is 105.

RLB also has its own tender price index. At end Q4 2007, the index rose 26.3 per cent year on year and it expects this to rise a further 15-18 per cent in 2008. Property prices have eased but RLB believes this will have a limited impact on local construction demand in the short term due to the large existing project commitments on hand from both the public and private sectors.

These ‘commitments’, together with rising costs, are adding strain to the industry.

United Engineers Ltd (UEL), which has operations across Asia, agrees with the growing market sentiment that Singapore could actually be the most expensive in the world in building costs. But a UEL spokesman added: ‘But it is likely to be a temporary phenomenon.’

To mitigate against rising costs, some construction companies have priced in the risk of price fluctuations at higher levels. A spokesman for a construction company said that in general, this could amount to 10-20 per cent of the construction package. Saying that this has increased by at least 10 per cent over the last three years, he added, ‘In fact, three years ago you might still have had to mark down to increase competitiveness.’

Straits Construction Co director Wong Chee Herng, however, says that these risk factors are still very ‘material specific’. And although such contractual clauses are becoming more common, Mr Wong said these are not always adopted.

Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers president Lim Lan Yuan believes the pricing-in of risks may have increased by as much as 10-15 per cent since 2007 simply because ‘prices are so uncertain’.

The filter-down effect of rising costs is that more projects could be delayed. While private sector developers have stayed largely silent about the impact, it was recently reported that the completion of the Singapore Sports Hub could be pushed back to 2012. While it was only reported that the delays were due to the ‘contract’s financial and legal details’, it is probably safe to assume that construction costs were a factor too.

A spokesman for City Developments Ltd told BT: ‘There is a significant increase in demand for construction work over the past two years. However, we are fortunate to have a team of regular contractors who continue to build our projects over this difficult period.’

A spokesman for Kajima in Singapore says that delays are also not simply due to construction costs per se but also due to the ‘inability to pay’ for certain materials or services. Citing the cost of steel re-bars as an example, which have doubled in price since 2007, he says: ‘It’s an additional cost we have had to bear. Basically, if (a construction company) can’t shoulder this, it will have to default.’

Reiterating the plight of construction companies, Singapore Contractors Association (Scal) executive director Simon Lee says: ‘It is not true that Singapore construction companies are pricing in high-risk factors for all contracts. They only price in high-risk factors in the demanding and unreasonable contracts.’

He added: ‘Some contracts are very unforgiving and expect construction companies to take on all unforeseen risks and absorb all cost increases.’

But Mr Lee believes that construction costs are still competitive here because ‘labour cost is still kept at a reasonable level’.

He also says that while costs and shortages of materials can affect the progress of projects here, ‘on a case-by-case basis, the construction company and the developer will discuss the best way to resolve these issues. The parties always prefer not to nullify contracts if such issues can be amicably settled’.

Source : Business Times - 18 jun 2008

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New infocomm initiatives unveiled - Singapore

New infocomm initiatives unveiled - Singapore

Robust growth, led by exports, propelled industry to $51.68b in 2007

By AMIT ROY CHOUDHURY

(SINGAPORE) With Singapore’s infocomm sector growing by 13.8 per cent to S$51.68 billion last year, the government yesterday announced a number of new initiatives which will help, among others, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to take full advantage of infocomm technology in order to become more innovative and competitive.

Dr Lee: In 2007, export revenue accounted for 65per cent of the total infocomm industry revenue
The initiatives are a National Authentication Network, a Grid Market Hub, a Digital Marketplace Programme, and an SME Infocomm Package (SIP).

Lee Boon Yang, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, announced yesterday that the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) will take the lead in developing a National Authentication Framework to create a trusted and conducive platform to access next-generation services.

He was speaking at the opening ceremony of imbX2008, Asia’s largest infocomm and media business show.

IDA will issue a call to the industry in the second half of this year to develop the nationwide authentication framework and will invest S$20 million in this infocomm security initiative.

He noted that the infocomm sector in Singapore is vibrant and technologically dynamic, especially after the arrival of broadband.

Dr Lee said that in 2007, export revenue accounted for as much as 65 per cent, that is S$33.56 billion, of the total infocomm industry revenue with the top three destinations for exports being North Asia (including China), the Americas and Europe.

In 2006, the Singapore infocomm sector was worth S$45.4 billion with exports accounting for S$28.98 billion.

Industry watchers told BT that this year the infocomm sector in Singapore was on course to another good year.

Dr Lee noted that the digital media and entertainment sector in Singapore registered S$2.06 billion in digital business revenues in 2006, registering an annual growth rate of almost 14 per cent.

‘Enabled by infrastructure and sound policies, digital media businesses will find it attractive to hub, aggregate, trade and distribute digital media assets from and through Singapore.’

Dr Lee announced that the government is planning a Grid Market Hub to offer on-demand computing services from the national grid, which will ride on the proposed next-generation national broadband network (NGNBN).

‘The Grid Market Hub will offer services to anyone, any time and anywhere on a pay-per-use basis,’ he added. According to him, SMBs can gain access to a range of productivity tools on a pay-per-use basis through this grid.

Three newly appointed National Grid Service Providers will be offering cost-effective and affordable computing services to businesses and individuals by the end of the year, the minister added.

Announcing another initiative to help SMBs, RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, IDA CEO, announced, after the opening ceremony, an SME Infocomm Package (SIP).

RADM(NS) Tay noted that during feedback sessions, SMBs have pointed out that cost and complexity are the main deterrents for them to adopt infocomm.

Under SIP they can now purchase affordable infocomm solutions tailored to their needs and enjoy one-stop support, he said.

IDA has appointed three companies out of 31 proposals received under a CFC (call for collaboration) issued last year to offer the infocomm package.

IDA will also provide a subsidy to 5,000 SMBs who are developing a Web presence for the first time.

Dr Lee announced the launch of the Digital Marketplace Programme that is expected to spark significant change for Singapore’s Digital Media and Entertainment sector.

The programme is expected to develop a trusted and conducive environment for firms to manage, distribute and trade digital media assets such as movies, video programmes, music and mobile content, through and from Singapore.

In a related initiative, the Media Development Authority (MDA) will launch a call for digital media proposals to seek partners for digital media content such as immersive learning media, pervasive media, virtual and 3D media, digital interactive advertisements and digital hubs.

The MDA initiative will be jointly carried out with the IDA’s Digital Marketplace initiative.

Dr Lee noted that the government has also identified the development and distribution of Connected Games as another area to grow the digital media and entertainment industry.

‘We will develop Singapore into a hub for game developers to deploy their products to the world market, as well as build an ecosystem to accelerate the development of Connected Games,’ the minister said.

Source : Business Times - 18 jun 2008

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Producer prices soar, housing starts dip - WASHINGTON

Producer prices soar, housing starts dip - WASHINGTON

(Washington) government data showed yesterday that the USA producer prices rose by a larger-than-expected 1.4 percent in May after another leap in energy prices, but the Core inflation at producer level animated as planned.

Shaky foundation: the Department of Commerce ’s figures show that the USA housing starts fell in May to their lowest level in more than 17 years

The dollar slipped and government of USA Treasury bonds held their ground on reading, tame core inflation and after another report showed U.S. housing construction fell in May to their lowest level in more than 17 years.

“We have very low housing with still no sign of recovery and a time rising food and energy costs are boosting wholesale inflation, ” said Gary Thayer, senior economist at Wachovia Securities in St Louis.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected producer prices - a gauge of costs to the farm and factory - would be a place percent after rising 0.2 percent in April.

The Labour Department said the producer price during the last 12 months rose by 7.2 percent in May, the eighth consecutive month, prices have increased by more than 6 percent on an annual basis.
The last time that the PPI has many months right above 6 percent year-over-year readings was the stagflation period between 1977 and 1982, an official said.

“These figures suggest that the Fed probably monitor economic growth and inflation carefully. We believe that the Fed will hold rates steady for now, ” said Thayer.

The U.S. central bank reduced its main interest rate by 3.25 percentage points to 2 per cent since September to protect the economy against a collapse of the housing market. He said he will now go on hold while he watches growth and inflation, and expects the pressure on prices at ease in the months ahead.

Producer prices of commodities, which strip the volatile energy and food costs, rose 0.2 percent as expected, a slowdown from 0.4 percent gain in April.

Base price rose by 3 percent compared to a year ago, matching the pace of previous months and still the fastest increase since 1991, the Labour Department.

Gasoline prices at producer level rose 9.3 percent and 26.3 percent over 12 months.
“I think we have a little inflation, but certainly not runaway inflation. Inflation history disappear quickly if oil pulls back below U.S. $ 120 per barrel, ” said Jim Paulsen, Chief Investment Officer at Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis.

USA housing starts slid 3.3 percent in May to their lowest level in more than 17 years, while permits for future construction also fell, signalling more weakness ahead for the battered real estate sector in the USA.

The Department of Commerce said yesterday housing starts set an annual rate of 975000 units in May, the lowest since March 1991. Economists surveyed before the report expecting a rate of 980000 units. Begins on April figure was revised downward to 1,008 million 1,032 million originally reported.

Department of Commerce showed the U.S. current account deficit widened more than expected margin in the first quarter to U.S. $ 176.4 billion of U.S. $ 167.2 billion in Q4. The Q1 current account deficit equal to 5.0 percent of gross domestic product, against 4.8 percent in 4th quarter.

Meanwhile, industrial production plunged in May, underscoring the pressure on the factories of deep crisis in housing.

The Fed said yesterday that production at U.S. factories, mines and utilities declined by 0.2 percent in May, following a 0.7 per cent in April. Economists had forecast a small 0.1 per cent of global production. — Reuters, AP

Source : Business Times - 18 jun 2008

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Singapore Govt to jumpstart National Grid project

Singapore Govt to jumpstart National Grid project

Public sector expected to buy 40% capacity of 3 service providers, says IDA official

By ONG BOON KIAT

GOVERNMENT agencies are expected to buy 40 per cent of the capacity of three upcoming pay-per-use grid services, providing an early boost to the budding technology.

Mr Khoong: IDA will provide support through promoting the use of the National Grid
At a news conference yesterday, Khoong Hock Yun, assistant chief executive of the Infocomm Development Authority, said IDA expects agencies such as the Ministry of Defence, National Library Board and others to adopt the new National Grid, which will be ready by the year-end.

‘We also anticipate the manufacturing, digital media and even hospital sectors to be looking at testing it.’ he said. ‘Where it works for them, I think it makes a lot of sense to move from capex (capital expenditure) to opex (operational expenditure).’

As part of its Intelligent Nation 2015 (iN2015) infocomm masterplan update, IDA yesterday unveiled three groups of vendors - led by Singapore Computer Systems (SCS), New Media Express and PTC System - as the National Grid service providers. The award follows IDA’s Call-For-Collaboration (CFC) last November.

According to IDA, Singapore is one of the first to embark on such a national effort that draws together commercial grid service providers.

Mr Khoong said IDA will not be paying subsidies to the grid service providers but will instead support them by promoting the use of the National Grid among government agencies. ‘What we are telling the industry is that you put the infrastructure in place and the government will look at how it can provide 40 per cent of the demand that service providers are setting up the infrastructure for,’ he said.

IDA expects more than 3,000 small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) to use the National Grid by 2011.

Singapore already has a grid services infrastructure known as the National Grid Pilot Platform (NGPP). The upcoming National Grid will be ‘much more commercial, robust and secure’ compared to NGPP, Mr Khoong said.

Grid computing is commonly seen as the consolidation of dispersed computers in an organisation to form a virtual supercomputer. It is also equated to utility computing, where customers don’t own computing hardware or software but pay a fixed rate for IT services as they use them.

The three winning consortiums showed their respective grid services offerings at IDA’s CommunicAsia booth yesterday. Local IT service provider SCS, which has partnered computer giant Hewlett-Packard (HP), will offer a suite of pay-per-use applications, services, computing and storage. SCS chief executive Tan Tong Hai said having a grid computing platform will let SCS attract more independent software resellers (ISVs) to host their wares. ‘We want to be an aggregator (of ISVs),’ he said. The consortium has already signed up 28 ISVs. The SCS-HP service will see an initial deployment of 2,000 processor cores and 16 terabytes (TB) of storage.

Local Web-hosting firm New Media Express has partnered 1-Net Singapore, Microsoft Singapore and Fujitsu Asia. Up to 200 processors and five TB of storage will be on tap at first. The consortium intends to offer software-as-a-service (SaaS), through which applications such as Microsoft Office are delivered over the Internet to users’ PCs.

Home-grown data management firm PTC System will offer pay-per-use storage, tapping on 20TB at first. Offering its grid service alone, the firm will initially target research agencies, while offering packages that help businesses manage data.

Source : Business Times - 18 jun 2008

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Singapore Govt to boost e-commerce security

Singapore Govt to boost e-commerce security

By WINSTON CHAI

INSTEAD of using multiple pager- like tokens to log on to different Internet banking sites, a new government initiative could lead to the launch of a single, nationwide security standard for all online transactions. With the growing adoption of electronic commerce among Web-savvy Singaporeans, the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) plans to invest $20 million to develop a more secure way of verifying user identity online.

‘To enable the growth of online services and to encourage greater usage, the provision of a secure and trusted environment is most critical,’ Minister for Information, Communication and the Arts Lee Boon Yang said at the opening of the annual Infocomm Media Business Exchange series of trade shows and conferences yesterday.

IDA’s new National Authentication Framework will add an additional layer of security on top of the username and password system that is currently used. To access e-government services, such as checking CPF statements and filing tax returns, Singaporeans are now required to type in special ‘Singpass’ passwords and their identification numbers. When the new IDA initiative kicks in, users of government services could be asked to key in an additional PIN (personal identification number) after logging in with their passwords.

Banks in Singapore have deployed similar two-factor authentication (2FA) systems since December 2006 under a directive from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Most are relying on hardware tokens to generate special, one-time PINs to fulfil the 2FA mandate, while others like OCBC Bank also allow password-generating software to be downloaded to a customer’s mobile phone.

With the introduction of the National Authentication Framework, such security measures will be applied to government transactions, according to IDA chief executive Ronnie Tay. In the long run, he hopes private companies such as banks will also adopt this system so that Singapore can harmonise on a common 2FA standard.

But, Mr Tay added, the telecommunications regulator has not decided on the authentication method to use and plans to seek suggestions from technology companies in the second half of this year.

Source : Business Times - 18 jun 2008

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Nokia in trials to strengthen S ‘pores ’s WiFi service

Nokia in trials to strengthen S ‘pores ’s WiFi service

Free end-user trial begins with improvements to the Wireless @ SG service

Amit ROY CHOUDHURY

FINNISH major Nokia announced yesterday it will lend a hand in strengthening Singapore ’s award-winning public wireless network Wireless @ SG.

“This initiative gives many Nokia WiFi device users to enjoy seamless and secure access Wireless @ SG network ‘

– M. McBeath

Speaking at Nokia Connection 2008 event, Grant McBeath, Nokia Singapore ’s CEO, that allow the phone company, in close collaboration with the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), SingTel, Qmax and iCELL, a strengthening trial version of Wireless @ SG under a new initiative known as the Wireless @ SG and seamless Secure Access (SSA).

“This initiative will focus on improving usability and security as well as the convergence of Wireless @ SG and Singapore ’s and mobile networks should stimulate the use WiFi with users of aircraft,’ a McBeath said.

The freedom of end-user trial began yesterday with improvements to Wireless @ SG service in Suntec City, VivoCity, Ngee Ann City, Paragon and Wisma Atria.

Under this initiative, Nokia is working with IDA and industry players to improve access to WiFi wireless @ SG networks.

“Nokia has the widest range of WiFi capable devices on the market and this initiative allows many Nokia WiFi device users to enjoy seamless and secure access Wireless @ SG network, ” said McBeath.

Nokia has introduced enhanced by wireless connectivity @ SG Assistant SSA, an application that allows users to connect securely Wireless @ SG hotspots with little or no user intervention, he added.

The application can be downloaded from iCELL and Qmax ’s respective web sites during the trial period.

Users only need to enter their credentials to their first connection SSA. Thereafter they will be automatically connected to the network whenever they enter the trial SSA locations.
“This will enhance the use of services such as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), which requires such a feature. With it, users can also benefit from premium services on wireless as music downloads and online games, ‘Nokia official.

SingTel Mobile postpaid customers will be invited to experience the SIM-based authentication, a feature that is supported in all Nokia WiFi devices, the Ngee Ann City, Wisma Atria and Paragon Wireless @ SG hotspots.

Khoong Hock Yun, IDA ’s assistant chief executive officer, noted that infocomm has become an integral part of Singaporeans ‘existence.

“It is clear by the many Singaporeans who have adopted a lifestyle mobile activated by Wireless @ SG. This service SSA trial can further improve the mobile wireless experience, which allows wireless @ SG users benefit from the connectivity transparent and greater security, “said Khoong.

Source : Business Times - 18 jun 2008

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Singapore URA parcel of Bedok Reservoir on sale

Singapore URA parcel of Bedok Reservoir on sale

Fairly good response to modest view offers ranging from $ 200 - $ 300 ppr

By Kalpana RASHIWALA

A 99-YEAR condo land leased to Tampines Ave 1 / 10 face Bedok Reservoir, launched yesterday by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, is likely to attract bids ranging from modest $ 200 to $ 300 per square foot gross potential surface given tepid sales developer, Property Consultants said.
Cushman & Wakefield managing director Donald Han believes that “given Singaporeans ‘affinity for live near water, the site should see fairly good response from developers ‘. ” I believe this site to fetch a good number of tenders , Maybe five, “he added.

On the other side of Bedok Reservoir, in a place more choice, Frasers Centrepoint and Far East Organization are understood to have sold about 140 units at their condo Waterfront Waves. The average price is about $ 800 ft. to face tank units and about $ 750 ft for the pool side.
“The Waterfront Waves project has better views for everyone while the URA site is likely hidden in a corner, ” said Han.

Assuming a new condo on the last piece may sell for about $ 750 ft on average, land deals to come in about $ 280 - $ 300 feet. “For developers bids above this range, they must be convinced to sell the project above $ 750 ft or have a sense of controlling costs in a market where construction costs are spiraling up , ‘He added.

CB Richard Ellis, director (research) Leonard Tay planned land even lower price of around $ 200 - $ 230 compared ft plot. It calculated a new 99-year leasehold project on the site May fetching an average price of approximately $ 700 ft, citing sales price of condos near completion, and taking into account construction costs higher.

Current prices for units at The Tropica, Aquarius by the park and Clearwater are $ 550 ft and $ 670 ft, while those in Baywater, recently completed a condominium, are around $ 600 - $ 680 pi, ” “said Tay.

Cushman ’s M. Han count the last parcel, which has an area of 341650 square feet and a plot ratio of 2.1 - the ratio of potential maximum gross area to land area - can accommodate a new condo with about 650 units averaging 1100 sq ft.

URA ’s latest plot is beside the Tropica, developed by a Hong Leong Holdings unit and completed around 2000.

The tender for the plot ends on Aug. 12. It is the penultimate plot to be launched in the first half of 2008 confirmed the list of the Ministry of National Development ’s sales of land by the government.
The 11th and final parcel on the list is confirmed a “white ‘Ophir site / Rochor roads. Scheduled for release by the end of this month, the 2.7 hectares of land will be sold with a minimum of office and hotel components planned. MND ’s S1 2008 GLS programme also includes 26 parcels reserve list. Twenty-four of them were available for application by developers - but not one has been triggered for sale.

The other two parcels of reserve - residential sites Sengkang West Avenue Road and Sembawang - will be made available for application by the end of the month. All eyes in the property market are now on the GLS programme H2 2008, which will be announced by the end of this month.

Source : Business Times - 18 jun 2008

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Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com