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Tag: Singapore

  • Frasers Property announces leadership changes for Singapore

    Frasers Property announces leadership changes for Singapore

    Frasers Property Singapore CEO Christopher Tang will retire at the end of the year.

    From January 1, Tang will assume the new position of senior adviser, while continuing to serve as a director on the boards of Frasers Property (Singapore), Frasers Centrepoint Asset Management and Frasers Commercial Asset Management.

    “It has been an incredible journey being part of the Frasers Property Group growth story and leading Frasers Property Singapore has been an honor and privilege,” said Tang. “The planned retirement reflects my personal desire to participate in the group’s continual growth in a different leadership capacity.”

    The company also announced an evolution of its Singapore business organization as part of its planned leadership changes.

    A retail-focused platform will be created in Singapore, which will cover the asset, property and development management of its retail assets in the city. The new platform will become a retail-focused business unit in Singapore from October 15, representing an asset size of about SG$8 billion (US$5.8 billion) with development, asset management and property management capabilities in respect of retail assets held across Frasers Property Singapore and FCT.

    Low Chee Wah will be appointed as CEO of the Singapore retail platform

    “Our retail business in Singapore has grown rapidly over the years,” said group CEO Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi.

    “We believe the focused retail platform will allow us to better serve the needs of our customers in this fast-evolving retail landscape. We are looking forward to building upon the meaningful scale of the group’s retail network while further developing our retail capabilities and leadership position for this asset class in Singapore.”

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  • Singapore Fintech Festival 2019 Kicks Off in November

    Singapore Fintech Festival 2019 Kicks Off in November

    The Singapore Fintech Festival is set to kick off on the week of November 11 and will feature over 250 industry leaders to discuss the future of the financial services industry.

    The conference will feature a myriad of topics revolving around four key themes: the future of finance; sustainability; exponential technologies; and global investment and market opportunities.

    Various sessions will be joined by leading global industry names such as HSBC group CEO, Noel Quinn; Standard Chartered group CEO, Bill Winters; LGT group CEO, H.S.H. Prince Philipp von und zu Liechtenstein; and more.

    Last year’s Singapore Fintech Festival was widely attended with more than 45,000 participants from 130 different countries. To learn more about the Singapore Fintech Festival agenda for 2019, click here.

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  • Taiwan overtakes Singapore in broadband speed

    Taiwan overtakes Singapore in broadband speed

    The global average in terms of broadband speed is 11.03Mbps since May 2019, compared to it being 9.14 at the same time last year. The data from this new research was gathered by a US-based open-source project called Measurement Lab (M-Lab).

    “With average broadband speeds rising by 20.65% in the last year the global picture looks rosy. But the truth is faster countries are the ones lifting the average, pulling away at speed and leaving the slowest to stagnate. Last year, we measured the slowest five countries at 88 times slower than the five fastest. This year they are 125 times slower,” commented Dan Howdle, consumer telecoms analyst at Cable.co.uk, with regards to the M-Lab research.

    The top 15 in the league tables of 2019 comprise of all European and Asian countries, with the US being number 16 on the list.

    Some of the European countries that made it to the top 15 were Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. As for Asian countries, it included Japan and Singapore.

    The league table showed that downloading a movie in HD of around 5GB in size takes 8 minutes and 2 seconds on average in Taiwan while it took 30 hours in Yemen, which was the last-placed country in the league table.

    M-Lab is led by a variety of teams based at Code for Science and Society, Google Princeton University’s PlanetLab, New America’s Open Technology Institute among others.

    “Average speed rankings by country are.. a great starting point for deeper research and statistical analysis of the state of broadband using M-Lab’s global broadband measurement datasets,” said Chris Ritzo, M-Lab’s programme management and community lead.

    The research carried out 276 million speed tests, all on 70 million IP addresses.

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  • Miniso $2 format opens first store, in Singapore

    Miniso $2 format opens first store, in Singapore

    Chinese discount merchandise retailer Miniso has launched a Miniso $2 outlet-store format, with its first shop opening in Singapore.

    The store will offer hundreds of household supplies goods at “affordable” prices and augment the 30 standard Miniso stores already trading in the city state. The range includes electrical appliances, home appliances and toys.

    While Miniso has not expressly said so, it is anticipated that the new Miniso $2 format will be expanded across the region. In Vietnam, for example, it has already announced a target of 400 stores by 2022.

    Located at HarbourFront Centre, the Miniso $2 was opened with a lucky draw event via Facebook where customers were selected to join a priority queue at the opening, and given free gifts.

    Founded in 2013 by the Japanese designer Miyake Junya and the Chinese businessman Ye Guofu, Miniso has now expanded to more than 3600 stores worldwide.

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  • Desigual partners with Zalora in Singapore

    Desigual partners with Zalora in Singapore

    Spanish fashion brand Desigual has partnered with Zalora in Singapore to co-host a VIP event and present the label’s Fall Winter 2019 collection in Singa

    The event connected Desigual’s “brand DNA” with Singapore’s local arts scene. The brand set up an interactive artwork from Singapore’s Band of Doodlers for their guests to draw and paint with their creativity.

    The fashion company introduced Desigual’s Fall Winter 2019 Collection through an art performance from Silent Stars Entertainment with dancers wearing the collection.

    Founded in 1984, Desigual recently decided to permanently reverse its logo, highlighting the word “Desigual” which means “different” in Spanish.

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  • Pomelo plans extra 100-strong store expansion in Thailand, Singapore

    Pomelo plans extra 100-strong store expansion in Thailand, Singapore

    Fashion-tech brand Pomelo plans to launch 100 additional Pomelo Partner stores by December on the back of a US$52 million Series C fundraising.

    The brand is intending to solidify its omnichannel retail presence in Asia, starting with Thailand.

    Pomelo Partner stores function as pick-up locations where customers can have their Pomelo items delivered, try on the items and pay only for what they choose to take home. The stores target a demographic of 25 to 34, and are located in convenient suburban locations such as cafes, salons, fitness studios, florists and even other clothing stores frequented by its customers.

    “Creating the best omnichannel retail experience means integrating our products with customer lifestyles, and the first 35 Partners in Thailand allow us to be where our customers live, work and play,” said Pomelo CEO and co-founder David Jou. “The growth of this network in the coming months makes returns easier and allows customers to try on and pay for only products they love with ease at a location nearest to them.”

    The Pomelo Partner store network is set to grow from the current 35 in Thailand to 100-strong come the end of the year. It also plans to cover all provinces in Thailand and then Singapore in preparation for further international expansion; it currently seeks Pomelo Partner store potentials in Singapore and looks to launch the first partner store in the territory by early next year.

    Currently, Pomelo’s nine retail stores and nine pickup locations across Thailand are strategically located in high-traffic urban locations.

  • UOB Loan to Boost Singapore’s Poultry Industry

    UOB Loan to Boost Singapore’s Poultry Industry

    Singapore Poultry Hub hopes to improve its productivity by 26 percent and its capacity by 70 percent with the new smart and green factory.

    United Overseas Bank (UOB) has just announced a loan of S$40 million ($29 million) to Singapore Poultry Hub, which will be used to set up the first smart and green poultry factory in the country, the bank announced in a press release on Monday.

    Singapore Poultry Hub is a joint venture among poultry producers and processors including Mr. Tan Chin Long, Tong Huat Poultry Processing Factory, Kee Song Holdings, Sinmah Holdings and Tysan Food.

    The smart factory will use technologies such as robotics, industrial internet of things and Industry 4.0 at the facility, which will also feature a new waste management system that converts part of the waste generated by the poultry processors into protein to be used as an ingredient in livestock feed, reducing waste by 60 tonnes per day, according to the press release.

    Our support of Singapore Poultry Hub is another example of how we are helping SMEs to transform their business and to seize opportunities from trends such as Industry 4.0, Eric Tham, head of Group Commercial Banking, UOB, said. He added that the bank is working with Singapore Poultry Hub to digitalize the collection of payments and reduce the use of cash and cheques.

  • K-pop girl-group Twice to open first pop-up store in Singapore

    K-pop girl-group Twice to open first pop-up store in Singapore

    K-pop girl-group Twice is to open a pop-up store called Twaii’s Shop in Singapore this month, marking its first Asia stop after the theme stores in Korea and Japan.

    Located at *Scape between October 12 to 14, Twaii’s Shop will feature more than 30 exclusive Twice merchandise items, including the Candybong light stick and Twaii-design T-shirt.

    The Twaii’s Shop will also set up a special lucky draw for fans to win a Twice-autographed album if they spend a S$50 or more on a single receipt.

    The South Korean group successfully held three sold-out concerts in Singapore with the most recent Twice World Tour 2019 Twicelights in July at Singapore Indoor Stadium. They also just released a mini album called Feel Special.

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  • OCBC, JCB Collaborate to Broaden Card Acceptance

    OCBC, JCB Collaborate to Broaden Card Acceptance

    The leading payment card issuer from Japan has announced a partnership to extend its reach in Singapore, bringing added convenience to cardholders in the region.

    JCB International, the international operations subsidiary of JCB, has announced a partnership with Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC Bank) to broaden the acceptance of JCB payment cards in Singapore, the two firms announced in a statement on Wednesday.

    This partnership brings added convenience to JCB cardholders in Singapore, Japan and Northeast Asia, and the «fast-growing card issuing base in Southeast Asia, the statement said. It also allows OCBC merchants to develop their business through a wider choice of payment schemes to attract more customers.

    This new partnership with JCB is an indication of our continuing work to establish a higher level of card acceptance that goes beyond Visa and Mastercard,» Desmond Tan, head of Group Lifestyle Financing, said, adding that the partnership is «an opportunity for OCBC to extend our comprehensive credit card network to a new consumer base.»

    JCB has 120 million cardmembers worldwide.

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  • Shopmatic acquires CombineSell to consolidate its leadership position in the e-commerce space

    Shopmatic acquires CombineSell to consolidate its leadership position in the e-commerce space

    International e-commerce company, Shopmatic has acquired 100% of CombineSell, a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform that automates & simplifies multichannel e-commerce selling by aggregating popular online marketplaces into just a single platform.

    The acquisition follows Shopmatic’s strategy of consolidating its position in a fragmented e-commerce enabling software sector. The Singapore-based e-commerce enabler had previously acquired a 50.1% stake in retail management and POS solution provider Octopus, to unlock the omnichannel growth strategy for its merchants. Now, Shopmatic has brought Singapore’s top-ranking multichannel e-commerce

    CombineSell leverages innovative technology to enable merchants to sell on multichannel e-commerce platforms, and drive campaigns for business growth. With this acquisition, Shopmatic’s merchants will now be able to leverage the power of selling on multiple channels while managing their online business through a single dashboard. CombineSell has 30+ ecommerce channel integrations available – including those with Lazada, Shopee, Qoo10, Amazon, eBay, Carousell, Redmart, Xero, etc, from a single, centralised platform and has generated over $150M of GMV in the last 12 months. CombineSell was co-founded by June Yong, Amanda Ho & Gerald Lam and has over 30+ people based across Singapore & Malaysia.

    Commenting on the acquisition, Anurag Avula, Co-Founder & CEO, Shopmatic, said, “In our continued bid to drive digital success for our merchants, we have been growing our suite of services on the platform, and are very happy with the acquisition of CombineSell.  This gives us a significant advantage in enabling the overall growth & success of all merchants on our platform. In just a single click, merchants will now have access to selling across numerous channels in various countries across South East Asia. The acquisition of CombineSell further consolidates our position as clear market leaders in digitizing SMBs & Individual Entrepreneurs in APAC.”

    Loh June Yong, Founder & CEO, CombineSell added, “At CombineSell, we understand that growing an online business can be rife with challenges. To the same end, we have been making it easier for sellers on our platform to grow and manage their business across multiple marketplaces. Shopmatic has cemented its position as a powerhouse e-commerce platform for small businesses and individual entrepreneurs. Following the latest development, we are excited to join forces with Shopmatic and together enable the online success of businesses, in the emerging markets.”

    SEEDS Capital, the investment arm of Enterprise Singapore, has been an early investor of Shopmatic. On the acquisition, Geoffrey Yeo, General Manager, SEEDS Capital, said, “Having invested in Shopmatic earlier on, both SEEDS Capital and Enterprise Singapore have been working closely with Shopmatic on its expansion plans in Asia, especially to markets such as India and Southeast Asia where the e-commerce needs are growing rapidly. SEEDS Capital is pleased to have connected Shopmatic with CombineSell, which led to this win-win collaboration for both companies. The acquisition will allow Shopmatic to grow its e-commerce capabilities, and further augment the integration of its e-commerce channels to better serve its customers.”

    Shopmatic continues to create industry disruptions with features, offers and pricing, focused on enabling the success of sellers on its platform. With over 250,000 merchants on its platform, Shopmatic has been setting the trend for enabling sellers to be successful digitally.

    Shopmatic’s customer-first approach has unlocked tremendous growth figures. Following the launch of its disruptive transaction pricing model, Shopmatic clocked a 174% QoQ revenue growth and a 160% hike in transactions on its platforms within the April-June quarter. Empowered by a fervent response from small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs on its platform, Shopmatic is geared up to bring half a million merchants online in the current financial year.

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  • Singapore Airlines To Trial Business Class Dine On Demand

    Singapore Airlines To Trial Business Class Dine On Demand

    For decades Singapore Airlines has been known for being one of the best airlines in the world, though I can’t help but feel like they’ve somewhat been resting on their laurels. I feel like the airline used to be super innovative, but is less innovative nowadays:

    • For the most part, I don’t find Singapore Airlines’ new cabins to be that cutting edge, and their business class seat hasn’t evolved that much in the past decade
    • Their meal services in business class are good, though nothing special
    • I will say that their cabin crew are consistently exceptional, and they’re one of the best parts of flying with the airline

    This is due to customer feedback, though Singapore Airlines is careful to note that they want to make sure they develop a system that works before fully implementing this.

    Part of that will be ensuring that flight attendants can deal with the increased work required from dine on demand while maintaining high levels of customized service.

    Is Business Class Dine On Demand A Good Thing?

    On the surface, the addition of dining on demand sounds like a good thing. Especially for an airline like Singapore Airlines, where I sometimes can’t figure out the flow of their meal service.

    But I’ve also sometimes in the past noticed that I don’t always think a dine on-demand system is best. Sure, in an ideal world dine on demand is great, but there are some downsides:

    • It significantly increases the workload for the crew, and will make them more stressed, and perhaps not provide the same level of service
    • If you’re like me and are a sensitive sleeper, I find that the sounds, lights, and smells, from people dining throughout the flight, can make it much harder to sleep

    So while I’m generally in favor of dine on demand, there are also some downsides that are at least worth acknowledging.

    I’d note that quite a few airlines have done dine on-demand trials in business class, but ended up deciding against it. Take Emirates, for example — they trialed it for a while, but then decided not to implement it on a widespread basis (meanwhile both Etihad and Qatar offer dine on demand).

    Bye Bye Lobster Thermidor?

    Singapore Airlines offers a “Book The Cook” menu, where you can order from a much larger menu before your flight. One of the most popular options is their lobster thermidor dish.

    It looks like that may not be on the menu forever in its current form:

    “Like everything, the Book The Cook programme evolves. The lobster thermidor is a perennial favourite but we’re looking at opportunities to modernise that, whether it be a lobster thermidor-type of dish or something similar and lobster- themed which is a little bit more modern, a little bit more healthy perhaps.

    People like lobster, but we’re moving to an environment where people are becoming more health-conscious so maybe the creamy lobster dish is not the right one… maybe a beautiful grilled lobster with fresh asparagus or veggies might be another alternative, as long as we maintain the integrity of the dish.”

    Bottom Line

    I’ll be curious to see what kind of a dine on-demand trial Singapore Airlines runs, and how successful it is. Generally, I’d say dine on demand would be a positive development, though assuming it allows the crew to maintain their high service standards.

    As someone who struggles to sleep without perfect conditions, I’m also generally somewhat apprehensive about dine on demand, though I realize that’s mostly just my problem.

  • Singtel Dashes Ahead of Grab In Survey On Deposits

    Singtel Dashes Ahead of Grab In Survey On Deposits

    A greater percentage of respondents expressed willingness to park money with Singtel compared to Grab, a survey conducted by CGS-CIMB finds. In a recent survey conducted by local brokerage CGS-CIMB, participants were given a scenario whereby they were offered a slight premium (another 30 basis points) to market rates at new digital banks. In this case, 45 percent of the respondents were willing to place fixed deposits with Singtel compared to just 33 percent for Grab. Only two choices were provided to survey respondents.

    We noted a clear difference in the trust levels accorded to Singtel and Grab, based on their willingness to use these entities as a depository institution given an identical set of circumstances, said CGS-CIMB analyst Andrea Choong in the report.

    Singtel and Grab, which operate digital wallets Singtel Dash and Grab Pay respectively, have expressed interests in applying for Singapore’s digital banking licenses. This prompted the local broker to do a survey of preferences.  The brokerage surveyed 139 respondents from various industries, with a larger proportion of them from the finance industry. Those aged between 30 and 50 years made up three-quarters of the sample pool.

    Testing for depositors’ sensitivities to interest rates with an additional 50 basis premium over the rates offered by the digital banks above, 55 percent of those who were previously unwilling to place fixed deposits with Singtel would now in this case, compared to just 40 percent for Grab, the brokerage said.

    CGS-CIMB estimates that 4 to 11 percent of deposits from the domestic banking unit is at risk of being taken by the upcoming new digital banks in Singapore. However, the brokerage acknowledged that this simulation does not take into account «retaliatory measures» by incumbent banks and the effects of further Fed rate cuts.

    The brokerage surveyed 139 respondents from various industries, with a larger proportion of them from the finance industry. Those aged between 30 and 50 years made up 75 percent of the sample pool.

    The fight for deposits is essential for digital banks, as they need cheap retail deposits to move towards profitability. The Monetary Authority of Singapore, in setting out the guidelines for digital banks here, had made it clear that digital bank applicants cannot engage in predatory pricing behavior, and must show a path towards profitability in their five-year financial projections.

    Currently, DBS, OCBC and UOB’s Singdollar deposits account for 24 percent, 17 percent and 20 percent of total deposits in the domestic banking unit – the unit that mainly accounts for Singdollar deposits.

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  • Singapore and Thailand Join Hands In Insurance Supervision

    Singapore and Thailand Join Hands In Insurance Supervision

    The authorities in both countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen cooperation in insurance supervision. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Office of Insurance Commission (OIC), Thailand, on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen cooperation in insurance supervision.

    This MoU is an important step which will provide OIC and MAS with a committed approach to working more closely. The MoU will advance a framework for cooperation, exchange of information and assistance in insurance supervision between two authorities as well as facilitating mutual development of the insurance sector in both jurisdictions,» said Suthiphon Thaveechaiyagarn, Secretary-General of the OIC, Thailand in a media statement.

    The MOU on insurance supervision was signed by Suthiphon Thaveechaiyagarn, Secretary-General, OIC and Daniel Wang, Executive Director (Insurance Department), MAS, in Bangkok at the sidelines of the annual Thailand Insurance Expo.

    This MOU affirms the strong relationship between MAS and OIC, as well as our mutual interest to enhance insurance supervision and collaboration in both our jurisdictions. It further deepens partnerships between insurance regulators in ASEAN,» said Ong Chong Tee, Deputy Managing Director (Financial Supervision), MAS in the media statement.

    The Office of Insurance Commission manages the supervision of insurance companies, brokers and agents and promotes the development of business conducts of insurance companies. OIC also builds confidence and accessibilities, strengthens the capacity and promotes the infrastructure of the insurance system.

  • 5G Asia 2019: Collaboration is the key for 5G

    5G Asia 2019: Collaboration is the key for 5G

    The 5G Asia event held in Singapore brought together the industry’s best and brightest names to discuss the invaluable influence that the 5G phenomenon is having all over Asia and across multiple enterprises.

    Pamela Clark Dickson, the practice leader for digital communications and social networking at Ovum, kick-started day 1 with an analytical introduction about the global state of play for 5G and what is to be expected from it in the next 24 months. She described the 5G network as “huge, fast and complex” and that “telcos would need to collaborate” in order to get 5G into the market.

    This was followed by number of other keynotes from industry leaders and even a panel discussion on “Defining the killer 5G app in Asia” where some of the most influential figures in telecoms converged to exchange views about the prospect and widespread influence of a 5G driven telecommunications sector.

    During the panel, the Executive Vice President and CEO of TM One Ir. Ts. Azizi Hadi took the opportunity to introduce the company’s 10 transformative smart solutions, which was launched in August, to drive Malaysia’s commitment towards industrial innovation and growth.

    5G Asia was held between the 10th and 12th of September in Marina Bay Sands and it is one of Asia’s largest events focusing on the expansion of 5G technology in the region. Some of the topics that were explored during the event were 5G deployment choices, the journey to cloud-native, edge computing and revenue generation for companies using 5G, just to name a few.

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  • KrisShop Singapore souvenir store pops up at Sentosa

    KrisShop Singapore souvenir store pops up at Sentosa

    KrisShop has collaborated with Enterprise Singapore to open a pop up Singapore souvenir store featuring the city’s most distinctive trinkets.

    The new store displays products from different local brands ranging from Singapore gin to its ubiquitous satay, with a tagline “With Love, SG”. Served as a platform for domestic brands, With Love, SG is curated to demonstrate Singapore’s culture and heritage.

    Singapore Airlines’ KrisShop says it aims to help local brands expand their retail network internationally and to strengthen their brand equity amongst local and international customers.

    KrisShop features more than 2000 products ranging from cosmetics and fragrance to electronics and exclusive co-branded items, sold online and on its aircraft.

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