In Focus

5% 'whale tax' lures big punters to Singapore Casinos

Opening of the integrated resorts in Singapore has increased tourist arrivals, Philip Securities said.

In Focus

5% 'whale tax' lures big punters to Singapore Casinos

Opening of the integrated resorts in Singapore has increased tourist arrivals, Philip Securities said.

In Focus

Singapore ranks 5th preferred Asian bond market in 2011

In the survey conducted by HSBC, only 20% of the respondents preferred to allocate their portfolios in Singapore.

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Singapore Hotels average $220 a night as tourism booms

Singapore Tourism Board expects the target of 12.5 million tourists to be comfortably met this year.

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Singapore companies scrambling to keep prized employees

Employers are using bonus schemes, stock options or education benefits to lure back an increasing number of skilled Singaporeans heading for Australia and other foreign shores for more attractive job opportunities.

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HSBC forecasts a ho-hum 2011 for Singapore economy

The bank says the country is about to enter into “normal times” after rebounding quickly from the global financial crisis and posting a record 14.7% GDP growth for 2010.

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Retailers' race for space spikes rents along Orchard/Scotts Road

The average gross rent of prime first-storey space in the area increased by a marginal 0.3% q-o-q from $39.70 per sq ft per month in Q3 2010 to $39.80 per sq ft per month in Q4 2010.

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The black hole of China: New Facebook map shows middle kingdom has few friends

Facebook has released a map which shows Facebook users and their connections around the world, but China remains a black hole in this friendship map of the world.

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Singapore economy seen to lose steam in 2011

GDP growth is poised to slip from 15% in 2010 to a mere 7% next year while inflation rate balloons to 3.2% from 2.8% as YoY growth moderates after a high base performance in 1H11.

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Singapore ties with Hong Kong as Asia's most attractive property market

The city state beat nine cities as investors’ most favored location to buy and rent properties in a survey conducted by the Pan Pacific Star Group.

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Employees to Singapore companies: It's bigger bonuses or goodbye

50% of Singapore companies are scrambling for ways to retain employees as 67% of them report of increasing attrition rates in 2010 due to employees being pirated by competitors offering more attractive salary packages.

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HSBC: Singapore economy's recovery “too fast to last”

The bank says growth in 2011 is projected to slow to 4.7% (from 4.5%) y-o-y after bouncing back at “Formula 1 speed” for the first half of this year.

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Colgate brushed aside by Google as Singaporeans favorite brand

The latest Superbrands survey also revealed that while four Singapore brands made it to the top ten list, NTUC FairPrice is the highest ranked homegrown brand.

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Singapore seen to slide from first to sixth fast-growing economy in 2011

OCBC Bank said even the MAS is already comfortable with the probability of a 4-6% growth next year as no change to monetary policy outlook is likely to be made in the interim.

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Singapore's yuppies couldn't care less about marketing themselves

78% of employees from Generation X are prepared to spend their own money on training to upgrade their skills as opposed to 70% of Generation Y yuppies and 68% of baby boomers, according to the latest Kelly Global Workforce Index.

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Singapore's October exports up 20%

Singapore’s total exports grew in October by 20 per cent y-o-y from 18 per cent in September. It also grew by 3.2 per cent m-o-m from -4.2 per cent in September. Importantly, non-oil domestic exports or NODX, a better gauge of external end-demand, also gained pace, up by 35 per cent y-o-y from 23% in September. According to the HSBC Research Global, this was well-above its forecast of 26.4% y-o-y and that of consensus 26.6 per cent y-o-y.

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The Land of the Rising Sun outshines The Lion City as Asia's top country brand

Singapore might be trailing behind Japan in terms of technology, workforce competitiveness and quality of education, but the city state remains the top choice of job seekers and investors for growth opportunities.

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Employees better not cry: 91% of Singapore companies won't lay off staff until Christmas

Less than a tenth of employers will be reducing their staff numbers in 4Q10, but the number is still higher than the comparative 4Q figure for China (2%) and Hong Kong (5%).

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