Franchise sector professionals to get training

Franchise sector professionals to get training

By Esther Teo

THE booming franchise industry here is set to get a lift in standards with the launch of Singapore’s first certified programme to train industry professionals.

Some observers say the Republic is shaping up as a regional hub for franchising - which is when a new outlet of an existing business, such as a restaurant chain, is sold to a budding entrepreneur.

The Certified Franchise Executive Programme, launched yesterday, is a collaboration between the Franchising & Licensing Association Singapore (FLA) and the Institute of Certified Franchise Executives in the United States.

The objective: to train and equip franchise industry professionals with the necessary knowledge and skills in areas such as operations, finance and international development.

Officiating at the opening of Franchise & Licensing Asia (FLAsia) 2009 at Suntec convention centre, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Education S. Iswaran said the minimal investment and labour costs of franchising made it a preferred strategy for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Highlighting Singapore’s ability to house and build global brands, he also noted that the strong intellectual property (IP) regime here made it attractive for many foreign companies to house their franchise IP systems and rights here.

The number of franchise concepts in Singapore has grown from 380 in 2003 to about 500 today, generating revenue of $8 billion last year - and that is expected to increase further.

Mr John Reynolds, president of the International Franchise Association Educational Foundation, said the rapid growth of franchising in the region has led to a greater demand for people who can effectively manage these businesses.

‘We have a manpower shortage in terms of people with this expertise and the certification will supply the kind of expertise that is needed to manage these businesses and take them up to the next level,’ he said. The curriculum will be evaluated regularly to keep up with evolving trends and markets that might require new knowledge and skills, he said.

FLA chairman Douglas Foo said it was important for franchise business models to be fitted to individual markets, taking into account cultural and economic differences, which are some of the adaptive and practical skills that will be taught by the programme.

Most of the exhibitors that The Straits Times spoke to at FLAsia had no doubt that Singapore was on its way to being a regional franchising hub.

Said Mr Jason Kikot, marketing director of Coolspot Unlimited, which franchises sweet vending machines: ‘This place is going to be dynamite. We’re at a crossroads right now and have chosen to start off in Singapore because this is a vibrant and exciting place to be in.’ He added that if the business takes off locally, there are plans to further expand into the South-east Asian region, eventually making Singapore its regional office.

Source : Straits Times - 16 October 2009

Buy Sell Rent invest In Singapore Property Real Estate

MINDY YONG

( +65 ) 91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

Asia markets regain losses

Asia markets regain losses

Dow, good US earnings and low interest rates push investors to equities

By Alvin Foo, Markets Correspondent

REGIONAL markets extended their rally yesterday and have now fought their way back to where they were before the financial crisis struck a year ago.

That is still a long way below the peaks of 2007, but the remarkable rally that began amid the depths of panic and desperation in March is dramatically underlining the region’s economic potency.

‘The investor pendulum has been swinging towards Asia,’ said CIMB-GK regional economist Song Seng Wun. ‘The region’s recovery prospects look better than anywhere else, and the post-Lehman selldown was probably overdone.’

The Lehman Brothers crash in September last year was the tripwire that sent the global economy into a tailspin, but bourses in the Asia-Pacific region have found traction to stage a recovery.

Wall Street’s effort on Wednesday to cross 10,000 points, a surge driven by buoyant US corporate earnings, gave regional markets the push they needed.

The Straits Times Index (STI) closed at a new 13-month high of 2,712.15 points yesterday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index finished at a 14-month peak of 21,999.08, after crossing 22,000 during the day.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.77per cent to 10,238.65, crossing the 10,000 mark for the first time this year, while Australian stocks added 0.6per cent, bringing the S&P/ASX 200 to a 13-month high of 4,859.90.

The Shanghai market is up 63.7per cent this year, way above the Dow’s 14.1per cent gain for this year and Britain’s FTSE 100 Index’s rise of 18per cent.

The Indian market has surged 78.2per cent this year, and the Hang Seng is up 52.9per cent. Back home, the STI has gained 54per cent for the year, and the Nikkei has added 15.6per cent.

The bigger picture underlines the strength of the regional resurgence.

Investors are returning to equities and properties in droves, thanks to prevailing low interest rates worldwide.

Experts attribute Asia-Pacific’s sharper rally to the relative lack of excesses in the system and the flood of liquidity injected by fund managers and retail investors into local shares.

The buying spree is also fuelled by the belief that the region’s prospects will be bright once the crisis recedes.

Mr Larry Hatheway, chief economist and global head of asset allocation for Swiss bank UBS, told a conference here that global stocks can continue to advance for the rest of this year.

This is because of the resumption of growth, better earnings and the availability of low-cost finance.

Analysts tip the regional supercharge is likely to be sustained in the next few months, boosted by the prospect of bright corporate earnings data and better economic numbers.

They predict that the STI could reach 3,000 this year, given that market sentiment is far from hitting fever pitch.

AmFraser Securities’ senior vice-president of research, Mr Najeeb Jarhom, said: ‘It’s still the early part of recovery. The better GDP and earnings data have not been fully factored into the market. We’ve not reached the stage of euphoria yet.’

But there are sobering concerns.

The experts note that the key ingredients for a sustained recovery are not yet present. For instance, the US jobs market is still in the doldrums and consumer spending there has hardly picked up.

They also warn that the outlook for next year and beyond looks uncertain, as slow global recovery could cloud the region’s growth prospects.

Asian Development Bank chief economist Lee Jong-Wha told a forum in Washington: ‘Even though we are now leading the recovery, there is no room for complacency because global recovery seems to be in the near term very weak.’

Source : Straits Times - 16 October 2009

Buy Sell Rent invest In Singapore Property Real Estate

MINDY YONG

( +65 ) 91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

Suggestions for better business

Suggestions for better business

PMETs give feedback to Economic Strategies Committee

By CHEN HUIFEN

RISING property prices, and a lack of support for SMEs were among the issues raised at a dialogue session with PMETs (professionals, managers, executives, technicians) last night.

Chaired by REACH chairman Amy Khor and Ministry of Finance deputy secretary (policy) Ng Wai Choong, the session was aimed at soliciting feedback and input on the areas that the Economic Strategies Committee is studying. There were some 30-40 participants, including engineers, consultants, entrepreneurs and the self-employed.

A few called for greater support for SMEs. Amir Wan, 49, a CEO, suggested that there be a form of garage space where minimal law applies and people can create things and do their own projects without constraint - ‘just to foster ideas and hopefully, these ideas can take on or create a business’.

There were also calls for a one-stop SME agency. A handful of entrepreneurs in the audience lamented the inaccessibility to market information and the troublesome process of having to go to various government agencies to seek help. This is not particularly helpful to SME owners, who need to spend most of their time running their business.

‘I can see that the government is making a lot of effort to find out all the information for us,’ said Eastman Chan, director of CnC Mobile Pte Ltd.

‘But SMEs usually consist of a small group of people, working day and night, and we cannot see those information. So I’m wondering if there’s any way we can improve the communication channel between SME bosses and government.’

A few in the audience were concerned about the unaffordable residential prices, as well as the rising rental rates at commercial spots. They blamed the rising rental costs at shopping malls on the oligopoly situation - many of the malls are owned by a few landlords.

Psychologist Goh Hong Yi commented that one of the ways to help Singapore become a global city is to draw a pool of non-government organisations (NGOs) here. ‘We know that global NGOs are actually very rich and they are actually very resourceful,’ he said.

‘The reason I suggest this is that global NGOs not only bring their resources, they also bring with them their expertise of doing NGO work. So hopefully, we can increase the quality of volunteerism in Singapore as a result. So it increases not only the wealth but also increases the outlook of Singaporeans beyond just the economic factor.’

Source : Business Times - 16 October 2009

Buy Sell Rent invest In Singapore Property Real Estate

MINDY YONG

( +65 ) 91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

Supply, interest rates frame housing debate

Supply, interest rates frame housing debate

Developers’ sale of 1,143 units in Sept takes Q3 figure to record 5,719 units

By KALPANA RASHIWALA

(SINGAPORE) The property market yesterday toasted the sale of a record 5,719 private homes in the third quarter, even though the industry posted a second consecutive month-on-month drop in sales to 1,143 units in September. Despite the high point, the discussion in property circles was marked by circumspection.

The number of homes that developers manage to sell in the fourth quarter as well as next year will be limited by the shrinking stock of launch-ready homes and developers’ fast-depleting landbanks.

While the economic outlook is improving, the accompanying scenario of rising interest rates may cause some to re-evaluate their property investment decisions as mortgage rates rise. If savings rates on bank deposits also increase, this will take some shine off parking money in property, which is what many investors have been doing this year, says DTZ executive director (consulting) Ong Choon Fah.

Urban Redevelopment Authority figures released yesterday showed that developers sold 1,143 private homes (excluding executive condos) in September, down 36.6 per cent from the 1,804 units they sold in August, which in turn was about 35 per cent below the July high of 2,772 units.

The 5,719 units developers sold in Q3 busted the previous record of 5,129 units in Q2 2007. With 12,969 private homes sold in the first nine months of this year, developers will have to sell an average of just 614 units a month from October to December this year to match the full-year record of 14,811 units set in 2007.

The drop in September sales, which was the second consecutive month-on-month decrease, is seen by some property consultants as evidence of price resistance setting in after rapid price hikes in recent months.

Colliers International’s director for research and advisory Tay Huey Ying highlighted an increase in the proportion of transactions at or below $1,000 psf to 54 per cent in September from a 49 per cent share in August. ‘This is a reversal of the downward trend since April 2009,’ she added.

Yet another sign of price-resistance setting in could be the pretty mixed bag of results obtained by analysts who studied URA’s data and compared prices achieved by developers between August and September.

Market watchers say another factor for slower sales last month could be the government’s move on Sept 14 to scrap the interest absorption scheme (IAS), which some blamed for oiling the wheels of property speculation.

Last month’s drop in private housing sales was also supply-led, said Real Estate Developers Association of Singapore CEO Steven Choo. The number of units launched by developers slipped 12.4 per cent from 1,613 units in August to 1,413 units in September.

This drop, however, was much less than the nearly 37 per cent decline in units sold. And that meant the ratio of units sold to units launched fell from 111.8 per cent in August to 80.9 per cent last month - the lowest since February this year - as buyers became more selective, observed DTZ’s South-east Asia research head Chua Chor Hoon.

‘Suburban projects and developments with small units continued to be favoured,’ she added. The Outside Central Region was the only segment which posted an increase in units sold, from 531 in August to 560 in September - against month-on-month decreases of 72 per cent and 40 per cent respectively for the Core Central Region and Rest of Central Region.

September’s top selling projects were Hundred Trees (327 units sold at a median price of $941 psf), followed by The Interlace (243 units transacted at $1,047 psf median price), and Elliot at the East Coast (65 units; $947 psf), CB Richard Ellis noted. Hundred Trees and Interlace made up about half of September’s sales.

Colliers’ analysis showed that whereas the highest price achieved in August was the ‘above $4,000 to $4,500 psf range’ with two transactions, the highest price band in September was the ‘above $3,000 to $3,500 psf range’ with seven units sold.

These comprise six units sold at Seven Palms Sentosa Cove at between $3,091 psf and $3,353 psf and an apartment at Nassim Park Residences that fetched $3,268 psf.

Source : Business Times - 16 October 2009

Buy Sell Rent invest In Singapore Property Real Estate

MINDY YONG

( +65 ) 91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

DTZ expects office rentals to return to positive growth in 2010

DTZ expects office rentals to return to positive growth in 2010

By Irene Chan

SINGAPORE: Property consultancy DTZ has upgraded its outlook for the office property sector.

It now expects office rentals to return to positive growth next year as the improving economic outlook feeds through.

But it said the outlook for 2009 remains firmly negative.

Year to date, office rentals throughout Asia Pacific have fallen by an average of over 10 per cent.

DTZ said the latest quarter-on-quarter growth was down around 2.5 per cent.

It expects the end of this year to be the bottom of the market as most cities are expecting to see yields stabilise in 2010.

The property consultancy, however, said it does not expect to see significant growth in Singapore’s office sector until 2011.

But it said growth may occur earlier if the positive sentiment amongst domestic and multinational occupiers persists. - CNA/vm

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 16 October 2009

Buy Sell Rent invest In Singapore Property Real Estate

MINDY YONG

( +65 ) 91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

FLA launches new accreditation scheme for franchise professionals

FLA launches new accreditation scheme for franchise professionals

By Desmond Wong

SINGAPORE : The Franchising and Licensing Association of Singapore (FLA) is launching a new training programme for franchise executives.

The Certified Franchise Executive programme is said to be the first in Asia, and will be run with the help of US-based Institute of Franchise Executives.

The programme is aimed at educating industry players on how to expand and manage franchises in the Asia Pacific. It cuts across all sectors of the industry and will also include candidates from outside Singapore.

By the end of last year, franchises in Singapore had generated revenues of some S$8 billion.

Industry players said the programme is timely, as franchising in Asia is expected to expand.

John Reynolds, president of the International Franchise Association Educational Foundation, said: “It’s growing so rapidly in this part of the world.

“There is a demand for people who can manage the operations of these companies and businesses, people who can set up a master licence operation and hire the general managers and assistant directors to work in those businesses. So we have a manpower shortage, in terms of people with the expertise.” - CNA /ls

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 16 October 2009

Buy Sell Rent invest In Singapore Property Real Estate

MINDY YONG

( +65 ) 91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

Marina Bay Sands IR targets high-end customers

Marina Bay Sands IR targets high-end customers

By Ng Baoying,

SINGAPORE : The upcoming Marina Bay Sands integrated resort (IR) in Singapore is targeting customers with high spending power.

It is promising a waterfront shopping experience, with brands in the upper-middle to high end.

David Sylvester, VP of Retail Asia, Sands Retail Asia, said: “With integrated resorts, you normally get all sorts of different market segments - the MICE, leisure, gaming customers, and they vary from segment to segment.

“But we aim at attracting high-spending customers. And that’s why the product is pitched the way it is - more at the upper end.”

Some new names that Marina Bay Sands will bring in to Singapore include Italian apparel brand Henry Cotton’s, and Paul and Shark.

And to match the shopping experience, the integrated resort will also have restaurants featuring famous celebrity chefs.

Marina Bay Sands said it has been able to attract the top names, despite the current global recession.

Mr Sylvester said: “The economic downturn created challenges but the product was so strong, we’ve been able to get the ideal mix. I don’t think there’s a brand we haven’t got that we wanted.

“Our rents are comparable with Orchard Road. Yes, there’s been pressure on a lot of things with the economic downturn, but we’ve been able to just continue on with our programme.”

The Marina Bay Sands integrated resort is slated to open early next year. - CNA /ls

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 16 October 2009

Buy Sell Rent invest In Singapore Property Real Estate

MINDY YONG

( +65 ) 91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com