George Yeo warns against complacency in reforming global financial system

George Yeo warns against complacency in reforming global financial system

By Channel NewsAsia

NEW YORK : Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo has warned against complacency in reforming the global financial system.

In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, he also pointed out that while stimulus measures provided temporary relief, the world economy has not yet recovered.

Mr Yeo, while backing the global efforts to prop up the financial system, warned that there are hard decisions with potential negative consequences ahead, when it comes to taking away the guarantees and stimulus over the next few months and years.

“Like steroids administered to reduce inflammation, there is a price to be paid for this temporary relief. First, the expectation that governments will step in when things go badly wrong creates a huge moral hazard,” said Mr Yeo.

“Once governments set a bottom to the consequences of risk-taking, more risks will be taken in the future,” he added.

Mr Yeo also warned that liquidity has boosted everything from property prices to stock markets, despite the fact that global economy has yet to recover. He also worried that the rebound may weaken the pressure from much-needed regulatory reform.

He said: “The crisis came about because of excesses and imbalances, which have to be put right. Looking back, we know the excesses were the result of inadequate regulation of banks and quasi-banking institutions.

“Over the years, clever minds turned non-banks into de-facto banks which were not regulated as conventional banks.”

Singapore also welcomed the decision to make the G20 the leading forum for solving international problems, but he encouraged leaders to continue to invite regional groups like ASEAN to the summits to listen to smaller nations.

The move to a multi-polar world means a messier one, warned Mr Yeo, but for the world economy to rebound, both Asia and America need to change.

“Asians have to consume more and save less as a proportion of income, while Americans have to consume less and save more,” said Mr Yeo.

And he said that climate change, security reform, and trade imbalances should be tackled, but it will be incremental solutions that will work best.

While Singapore praised the concerted actions around the world backing the G20 reforms considered in Pittsburgh last week, warnings of complacency for the future, and a call for smaller voices to be heard were urged when it comes to changing the international financial architecture.

Separately, in his meeting with Myanmar’s Prime Minister Thein Sein, Mr Yeo welcomed the US and European Union’s shift in position towards engagement with the country.

He also urged the international community to take a longer term view and support Myanmmar’s political evolution.

Mr Yeo also held bilateral meetings with leaders from Liechtenstein, Uzbekistan and San Marino. - CNA/ls

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 30 September 2009

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Smaller prime district homes lead Q3 surge

Smaller prime district homes lead Q3 surge

Luxury condo prices up 17% from Q1; new peak for prime area landed homes

(SINGAPORE) Latest figures from DTZ show that prices of completed landed and non-landed private homes in various segments continued to recover in the third quarter after bottoming out in the first quarter of this year in the aftermath of the global financial crash.

One of the strongest price gains was reflected in the average price of freehold completed prime district condos, which rose 22.3 per cent from the recent low of $1,120 per square foot in Q1 to $1,370 psf in Q3. ‘As more buyers were drawn to the market, average private home prices continued on the uptrend in Q3 2009, led by smaller homes in the prime districts of 9, 10 and 11,’ DTZ said.

The average capital value for DTZ’s basket of completed luxury freehold condos rose 17 per cent from $1,880 psf in Q1 to $2,200 psf in Q3; however, the latest figure is still 21.4 per cent shy of the all-time high of $2,800 psf in late 2007/early 2008.

The recovery in home buying and prices in Q2 and Q3 this year also rubbed off on the landed housing segment. The average price of completed freehold landed homes in prime districts 9, 10 and 11 appreciated 15.9 per cent from the recent low in Q1 to scale a fresh peak of $1,383 psf of land area in Q3, according to DTZ’s data.

In the 99-year suburban landed market too, the average capital value of $593 psf as at Q3 was up 9.4 per cent from Q1.

DTZ’s landed housing baskets exclude Good Class Bungalows, whose values have also appreciated. And for both landed homes as well as condos, its baskets cover only completed projects.

‘We’ve seen strong interest in landed properties in Q3 - whether it’s bungalows, terrace houses or semi-detached homes. Buyers are mostly owner occupiers,’ says DTZ SE Asia research head Chua Chor Hoon.

‘The general home buying sentiment has spilled over to the landed segment. Landed property prices did not move up as much as condo prices in the 2007 run-up.’

A universal trend for all types of private housing shown in DTZ’s data is that prices have been appreciating since bottoming out in Q1 this year.

However, while the average quarter-on-quarter price gains for suburban condos were higher for Q3 than for Q2, the price appreciation slowed in Q3 for prime district and luxury condos.

The average capital value of freehold suburban condos rose 5.6 per cent in Q3 over the preceding quarter, after posting a 3.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter gain in Q2. For 99-year suburban condos too, the average price increased 6.5 per cent in Q3 to $610 psf, nearly double the 3.2 per cent increase in Q2.

Quarter on quarter, the average capital value for prime district freehold condos surged 11.3 per cent in Q2 and 9.9 per cent in Q3. The average price of luxury freehold condos appreciated 9.6 per cent in Q2 and 6.8 per cent in Q3.

DTZ said rental values found some stability after four consecutive quarters of decline. ‘The average monthly rental value of non-landed homes in prime districts was unchanged at $3.32 psf in Q3 2009 while that of luxurious condos stayed at $4.65 psf.’

Over the next six months, Ms Chua predicts, private home prices are likely to see some level of stabilisation with more moderate increases. While sentiment is still strong at the moment, she pointed to an easing in sales volume from frenzied levels seen in Q3 on the back of fewer projects in the pipeline as well as the market cooling measures announced by the government on Sept 14.

DTZ noted that new private home sales by developers in Q3 are poised to break the previous quarterly record of 5,129 units set in Q2 2007. This was after developers sold a total of 4,471 homes in July and August alone. The full-year figure is also expected to top 2007’s record of 14,811 units.

Source : Business Times - 30 September 2009

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Institute to push Asian leadership, management

Institute to push Asian leadership, management
It’ll allow businesses and academia to work together to devise best practices

By CHUANG PECK MING

(SINGAPORE) Singapore will start what is believed to be the first premier institute to develop Asian leadership and management talent for the region.

PM Lee: ‘We hope to steadily build the Singapore LINK into an indispensable resource for organisations seeking to upgrade their human capital management’
Announcing the move to establish a Human Capital Leadership Institute in Singapore, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday said the institute will be part of a new push for businesses and academia to work together to produce and adopt best practices.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and Singapore Management University (SMU) will set up the institute, with the Economic Development Board (EDB) spearheading the Singapore Leadership Initiative for building Networks and Knowledge (LINK) to unite research houses, business schools and companies to focus on leadership and talent development.

These efforts are to build human capital not just for Singapore but also for the rest of Asia, Mr Lee said, in kicking off a two-day Singapore Human Capital Summit conference.

‘After all, Singapore is at the crossroads of Asia,’ he said. ‘If we can help Asian economies to gain talent and grow, we ourselves will in turn grow with them.’

Singapore wants to be a Home for Talent. This means not only being in the forefront of human capital development, it also means Singapore must provide exciting job prospects and fun living.

- Mr Lee

Mr Lee said Singapore wants to be a Home for Talent. This means not only being in the forefront of human capital development; it also means Singapore must provide exciting job prospects and fun living.

Singapore has put in place an infrastructure for research, training and talent-building.

Mr Lee said the next step is to ‘cluster research, practice and teaching institutions from the region and the world’.

‘This clustering will strengthen the links between research, management and training, encourage corporations and academia to work together on real-world challenges and facilitate the eventual adoption of new best practices,’ the PM said.

Human resource consultancy firm Towers Perrin has already launched a ‘multi-million-dollar’ stu- dy of cross-cultural leadership in Asia, while Watson Wyatt plans to develop human capital risk management tools for Asian companies.

Mr Lee said the Singapore LINK will encourage more of such studies.

‘We hope to steadily build the Singapore LINK into an indispensable resource for organisations seeking to upgrade their human capital management,’ he said.

The Human Capital Leadership Institute, which comes under the Singapore LINK, will strive to become ‘the premier institution for raising strategic human capital capabilities in Asia’.

‘It will conduct pan-Asian research on important human resource challenges,’ PM Lee said.

‘It will also offer best-in-class training and development programmes on leadership and management to global participants.’

One of these courses will be the Singapore Business Leaders’ Programme, which prepares senior executives for regional or global roles.

‘The programme will provide leadership development, networking opportunities, as well as exposure to leading human resource and talent management practices in Asia,’ Mr Lee said.

Source : Business Times - 30 September 2009

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