Are there enough people for Singapore's workforce?



Singapore's unemployment rate in September fell to a seasonally-adjusted 1.7 percent, a decade low, while employment continued to grow strongly as the economy maintained its rapid expansion, the government said.

Figures from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) show that the economy created 57,600 jobs in the third quarter, substantially higher than the increase of 43,000 in the same quarter last year but lower than the record gains of 64,400 in the previous quarter. This brought the total employment gains for the first three quarters of this year to 171,500, which is close to the 176,000 for the whole of last year.

The seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate fell to 1.7 percent in September from 2.3 percent in June, "as more of the unemployed found jobs in the rapidly growing economy," said the MOM.

Compared to a year ago, the unemployment rate has fallen by a full percentage point from 2.7 percent in September of last year. Services continued to lead the employment gains, adding 34,500 workers in the third quarter. The manufacturing sector posted gains of 11,800. Driven by the growth in building activities, construction raised its workforce by 10,800, continuing the rapid increase of the previous quarter.

On retrenchment, the MOM report said initial findings showed that 1,700 workers were laid off in the third quarter. The majority of the workers retrenched were from manufacturing (1,200), another 500 workers were laid off from the services industries, it said.

After growing 7.9 percent last year, Singapore's economy in the first half of this year got a better-than-expected growth of 7.6 percent, and grew 9.4 percent in the third quarter. Singapore's growth forecast for the whole year by the government is between 7 and 8 percent.

Will the local's booming economy allow more foreign companies to come Singapore to take advantage of the booming economy?

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Why is Singapore Airlines Delaying its Virgin Sale?

Why is Singapore Airlines Delaying its Virgin Sale?


Singapore Airlines has postponed the sale of its 49 per cent stake in Virgin Atlantic because of turbulence in the financial markets.

Sources close to the company have confirmed that the recent credit crunch in world banking would delay a decision on offloading the stake, which could be worth up to £1 billion.

Singapore Airlines bought the stake from Sir Richard Branson in 1999 for £600 million, but said three months ago that it was considering whether to remain a shareholder in the British airline. Sir Richard is thought to have a preemptive right to buy back the shares, but Singapore has also considered selling to a private equity firm or even another airline.

Because of the turmoil in financial markets the airline is thought to be concerned that it will not get the best price for its stake. It will remain a shareholder in Virgin, therefore, until early next year, at least. Industry sources suggested that Singapore Airlines may choose to drop the sale completely as it focuses on expanding in Asia.

The company bought its stake in Virgin because it wanted access to the transatlantic route between Heathrow and New York. As a Singaporean company, it could not offer its own service between Europe and the United States. However, two weeks ago the British and Singaporean governments agreed to remove restrictions on air travel, which will allow Singapore to offer services from London to New York.

Analysts had been speculating that Singapore Airlines would drop the Virgin stake once this agreement was in place and launch its own transatlantic service.
Singapore Airlines, regularly voted one of the world’s best airlines, is particularly focused on growing in China and has taken a 24 per cent stake in China Eastern Airlines.

Singapore Airlines was not available for comment. A spokesman for Virgin said: “They have been a valuable shareholder and any decision on their stake is a matter for Singapore Airlines.”

Is turbulence in the financial market the only reason why Singapore Airlines is delaying the sale of its stake in Virgin Atlantic?

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How will the sale of Singapore's Power Plants benefit Temasek?

How will the sale of Singapore's Power Plants benefit Temasek?




Who is the sale of Singapore’s Power Plants actually benefiting? CLP Holdings, the larger of Hong Kong's two power producers, is considering bidding for Singapore's three biggest utilities being sold by Temasek Holdings said Group Director Stefan Robertsson.


“Electricity is a growth industry in Asia, the industry dynamics are one of consolidation and privatization,” Robertsson said in an interview today in Singapore. “Given that we are interested in Asia-Pacific, it is an important opportunity for us.”


OneEnergy, a joint venture between CLP and Mitsubishi, is expanding in Asia to take advantage of rising demand for electricity. Last month, CLP said it plans to buy two coal-fired electricity projects in India.


Temasek, the Singapore government's investment company, announced in June it's reviving the plan to sell the island's three biggest generators after a six-year delay. The three utilities account for 90 percent of the island's electricity capacity. So far this year, $53.5 billion of acquisitions involving energy companies have been announced in Asia.


Singapore's economy grew for a 14th consecutive quarter in the three months ended June 30, the longest expansion since 1991, the trade ministry announced Oct. 10. Demand for electricity during peak periods will rise 53 percent to 8,390 megawatts in 2015, according to the Singapore Energy Market Authority.


CLP, the 106-year-old company controlled by the family of Chairman Michael Kadoorie, has expanded in countries including Australia and India to counter slowing growth in Hong Kong. CLP reported first half profit rose 23 percent to HK$6.13 billion ($791 million) after selling its stake in a Taiwan power plant.


Marubeni , Keppel and Sembcorp Industries plan to bid for the utilities that may be worth S$2.5 billion ($1.7 billion), three bankers with knowledge of the deal said July 23. Temasek aims to complete the sale of Tuas Power, Power Seraya and Power Senoko by early 2009.


General Electric , Tokyo Electric Power , Babcock & Brown , International Power Plc are also among likely bidders for Singapore's power generators.


By selling it’s Power Plants, how will Temasek benefit?

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Is Singapore’s economy championing Asia’s growth?

Is Singapore’s economy championing Asia’s growth?


Asian stocks rose after Singapore's economy grew faster than economists had expected after gross domestic product jumped an annualized 6.4 percent after adjusting for inflation, the 14th straight quarter of growth, according to the trade ministry. Economists were expecting a 5.1 percent gain.

Benchmarks in China, Hong Kong, Australia, South Korea, Indonesia and Singapore were also set for new highs, while Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.3 percent to 17,217.53.


Honda, Japan's second-largest automaker rose 0.8 percent to 4,050 yen. Samsung Electronics, South Korea's biggest exporter added 1.9 percent to 547,000 won. Yue Yuen Industrial, the biggest maker of athletic shoes for Nike and Adidas, gained 0.8 percent to HK$25 in Hong Kong. DBS Group added 0.5 percent to S$22.70. Keppel Land, Singapore's third-largest property developer gained 1.8 percent to S$8.70.

The city-state's $134 billion economy grew at an annualized 6.4 percent pace in the third quarter, the trade ministry said . That's faster than the 5.1 percent rate forecast by economists.

“The economic growth number is positive, especially for companies that generate income here,'' said Thue Isen, of Bankinvest Group in Singapore.

Singapore Telecommunications, Southeast Asia's largest telephone company, added 1 percent to S$4.18. Citigroup raised its share-price estimate for Singapore Telecommunications by 13 percent to S$4.40.

Shares of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, China's biggest lender, gained after its equity fund venture with Credit Suisse Group was approved. ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management received regulatory approval to start investing overseas under China's qualified domestic institutional investor, or QDII, program, the company said.

Can Singapore lead Asia’s economic charge?

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Will Singapore Gain as Bush Suppresses Growth of Stem Cell Research?

Will Singapore Gain as Bush Suppresses Growth of Stem Cell Research?
The meeting of the Stem Cell Club in Singapore at the $300 million government-funded science park called Biopolis, whose members include researchers at the forefront of one of the most promising and controversial areas of science today. as part of its efforts in Singapore is to create a globally competitive biomedical industry. Singapore has lured star scientists such as Alan Colman, who helped clone Dolly the sheep, and David Lane, who discovered a protein that suppresses some tumors.

Singapore has spent more than $3 billion in a bid to transform its economy into a knowledge-based one that relies less on manufacturing of products like cell phones and modems and more on fields such as research.

The Singaporean government aims to create 15,000 jobs in the city-state of 4.5 million people and boost annual production to 25 billion Singapore dollars by 2015.

Philip Yeo, former chairman of the state's Agency for Science, Technology and Research, known as A*STAR can already point to tangible results. “Annual output of drugs and medical devices has quadrupled since 2000 to S$23 billion last year. In the same period, the country created 10,571 new jobs”, says Yeo, 61, who as head of the Economic Development Board for 15 years led Singapore's efforts to create its own electronics and chemicals industries.

Since 2001, more than 100 foreign drug makers and biomedical companies, including GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Novartis AG and Pfizer Inc., have set up factories here, attracted partly by patent enforcement that's the strictest in Asia, which protects both international patents and those granted in Singapore.

One area where Singapore is trying to distinguish itself is in stem cell research. Embryonic stem cells, which are the human raw materials that can grow into heart muscle, nerves or other organs, have the ability to divide and renew themselves.

The research is contentious. Some stem cells are derived from embryos that are donated or discarded by couples undergoing fertility treatments. The embryos, which are a few days old, are destroyed in the process.

U.S. President George W. Bush has said such experiments pose "moral hazards". In August 2001, Bush cut off U.S. funding for research on all but existing stem cell lines made from discarded human embryos. A stem cell line is a group of cells derived from a single embryo; the U.S. has approved research on 22 such cell lines that were created before August 2001.
Germany and Italy, among other countries, also restricts the use of human embryonic stem cells in research.

Singapore's prospects are good and everything indicates the government will have the patience. Will Singapore capitalize on the stem cell research industry?

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