ID :
158306
Fri, 01/28/2011 - 09:18
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/158306
The shortlink copeid
US INDUSTRIES EYES SINGAPORE AS INVESTMENT SITE
By Manik Mehta
NEW YORK, Jan 28 (Bernama) -- Singapore, whose impressive growth rates have
caught the attention of the global industry, is vying with other Asean member
countries to garner a larger slice of the global pie.
Singaporean officials and diplomats based in the United States are seeing a
surge in the number of enquiries received from the US industry.
The striking feature is many of the investment enquiries are not confined to
the services sector.
The island city has not only emerged as one of the world's attractive
investment destination for financial services but also for manufacturing and
what is described as manufacturing-related services.
Investment experts at the US Department of Commerce, tracking the flow of
foreign direct investments, pointed out that Singapore achieved record high
investment commitments last year.
"We believe that this trend will also continue in 2011," says James
Galloway, a Wall Street analyst who monitors inbound and outbound US
investments.
Indeed, Singapore could pose a challenge to Malaysia as far as the
flow of US investments is concerned.
Singapore is also penetrating the so-called ethnic investment sourcing,
particularly from the heavily Indian-dominated business community in the United
States with its ever-growing strong political and economic clout.
Indeed, the Silicon Valley is almost entirely dominated by Indian
entrepreneurs who have achieved major breakthroughs that have catapulted Indians
to the forefront of America's corporate world.
These Indian-owned companies, flushed with cash, are also looking for
investment opportunities in other regions, with Singapore becoming a key
destination in the Asean region.
Members of the US-Asean Business Council in Washington, which promotes
business and trade between the United States and Asean member countries,
have been bullish in their comments about the economic projections of
Singapore which, according to tentative figures show, has recorded 14.7
per cent growth in 2010.
Of course, the double-digit growth seems very impressive but one ought not
forget that the economy contracted in recession-plagued 2009.
Nonetheless, the perception within the US industry is that Singapore's
economy is firmly entrenched in the growth trajectory.
This bullish perception is also reflected in the assessment of Singapore's
Economic Development Board (EDB) which maintains that international companies
invested some S$12.9 billion in fixed assets in the form of facilities and
equipment in 2010.
Indeed, this flow even surpassed the EDB's fixed asset investment forecast
of between S$10 billion and S$12 billion for 2010.
The projects covered by this investment volume are expected to generate some
21,300 new skilled jobs.
Many investment experts say Singapore does not shy from what is called
"piggy back riding" on China and India, positioning its strategic location
between the two giants as a "gate opener" to these two markets that are on every
American industrialist's lips.
Recent comments by EDB Chairman Yeo Yip that Singapore considered
itself as "offering value to global companies that are expanding in Asia"
confirms the perception that Singapore is selling itself as a facilitator for
business with China and India.
Singapore is also providing, going by Yip's words, value to Asian companies
that are entering the world markets and, as he put it, "going global".
Kishore Mahbubani, a former Singaporean two-term permanent representative to
the United Nations, told journalists, on the eve of the ongoing World Economic
Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that "many Asians don't believe in the rise of
Asia. Many don't believe this (Asia's rise) is real".
However, he says that Singapore, his native country, is "massively investing
in R & D" and "so many of the world's leading companies are now investing in
Singapore".
This could serve as an eye opener for Malaysia which, if interested in
beefing up its foreign direct investment (FDI) profile, could do well to
increase its R & D allocations.
Projects like the Kulim Industrial Park and Penang, the "hi-tech island", as
it is called, provide the architecture for attracting FDIs, but the question is
how much official funds are being pumped into R & D which, for many Malaysian
officials assume, should be left entirely to the private sector.
This is not a helpful notion because individual players in the private
sector, who have their own narrow agenda, would be encouraged to follow suit
with an official nudge in that direction.
NEW YORK, Jan 28 (Bernama) -- Singapore, whose impressive growth rates have
caught the attention of the global industry, is vying with other Asean member
countries to garner a larger slice of the global pie.
Singaporean officials and diplomats based in the United States are seeing a
surge in the number of enquiries received from the US industry.
The striking feature is many of the investment enquiries are not confined to
the services sector.
The island city has not only emerged as one of the world's attractive
investment destination for financial services but also for manufacturing and
what is described as manufacturing-related services.
Investment experts at the US Department of Commerce, tracking the flow of
foreign direct investments, pointed out that Singapore achieved record high
investment commitments last year.
"We believe that this trend will also continue in 2011," says James
Galloway, a Wall Street analyst who monitors inbound and outbound US
investments.
Indeed, Singapore could pose a challenge to Malaysia as far as the
flow of US investments is concerned.
Singapore is also penetrating the so-called ethnic investment sourcing,
particularly from the heavily Indian-dominated business community in the United
States with its ever-growing strong political and economic clout.
Indeed, the Silicon Valley is almost entirely dominated by Indian
entrepreneurs who have achieved major breakthroughs that have catapulted Indians
to the forefront of America's corporate world.
These Indian-owned companies, flushed with cash, are also looking for
investment opportunities in other regions, with Singapore becoming a key
destination in the Asean region.
Members of the US-Asean Business Council in Washington, which promotes
business and trade between the United States and Asean member countries,
have been bullish in their comments about the economic projections of
Singapore which, according to tentative figures show, has recorded 14.7
per cent growth in 2010.
Of course, the double-digit growth seems very impressive but one ought not
forget that the economy contracted in recession-plagued 2009.
Nonetheless, the perception within the US industry is that Singapore's
economy is firmly entrenched in the growth trajectory.
This bullish perception is also reflected in the assessment of Singapore's
Economic Development Board (EDB) which maintains that international companies
invested some S$12.9 billion in fixed assets in the form of facilities and
equipment in 2010.
Indeed, this flow even surpassed the EDB's fixed asset investment forecast
of between S$10 billion and S$12 billion for 2010.
The projects covered by this investment volume are expected to generate some
21,300 new skilled jobs.
Many investment experts say Singapore does not shy from what is called
"piggy back riding" on China and India, positioning its strategic location
between the two giants as a "gate opener" to these two markets that are on every
American industrialist's lips.
Recent comments by EDB Chairman Yeo Yip that Singapore considered
itself as "offering value to global companies that are expanding in Asia"
confirms the perception that Singapore is selling itself as a facilitator for
business with China and India.
Singapore is also providing, going by Yip's words, value to Asian companies
that are entering the world markets and, as he put it, "going global".
Kishore Mahbubani, a former Singaporean two-term permanent representative to
the United Nations, told journalists, on the eve of the ongoing World Economic
Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that "many Asians don't believe in the rise of
Asia. Many don't believe this (Asia's rise) is real".
However, he says that Singapore, his native country, is "massively investing
in R & D" and "so many of the world's leading companies are now investing in
Singapore".
This could serve as an eye opener for Malaysia which, if interested in
beefing up its foreign direct investment (FDI) profile, could do well to
increase its R & D allocations.
Projects like the Kulim Industrial Park and Penang, the "hi-tech island", as
it is called, provide the architecture for attracting FDIs, but the question is
how much official funds are being pumped into R & D which, for many Malaysian
officials assume, should be left entirely to the private sector.
This is not a helpful notion because individual players in the private
sector, who have their own narrow agenda, would be encouraged to follow suit
with an official nudge in that direction.
