Singapore Morning News For April 17

Singapore March exports beat expectations as trade recovery widens
Singapore’s on-year export growth beat expectations in March, thanks to a surge in petrochemical and pharmaceutical shipments, a sign the city-state’s trade recovery is widening to non-electronic sectors.
– Nasdaq/ Reuters

Singapore economy eases to a 2.5% growth in Q1
The latest advanced estimates by the Ministry of Trade and Industry showed that Singapore’s gross domestic product grew by 2.5% YoY, easing from the 2.9% YoY growth in the previous quarter.
– Singapore Business Review

Singapore apartments main target of Indonesian property investors
Indonesian property investors would prefer to go to Singapore if they want to invest in apartments and to Australia to buy houses to be leased out, a survey has said.
– Antara News

Singapore a hot spot for global R&D centres
A conducive business environment and the Smart Nation drive make Singapore an attractive location for global innovation hubs
– The New Paper

Singapore: Spout Entertainment closes $2.1m from Reapra Group
Singapore-based media company, Spout Entertainment Group, has secured a seed investment of $2.1 million (S$2.93 million) from Reapra Investment Holdings (Reapra Group).
– Deal Street Asia

Tourism Board signs 3-year deal with Walt Disney
Moana, Luke Skywalker, and Mickey Mouse may soon roam the streets of Singapore. The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia announced a three-year collaboration aimed at providing unique experiences themed around Disney’s biggest brands and most popular stories and characters.
– Singapore Business Review

Changi Airport, SIA, STB to invest S$33.75m in Singapore promotion
CHANGI Airport Group (CAG), Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Singapore Tourism Board (STB) will invest S$33.75 million to renew a three-year partnership to promote Singapore as an inbound destination, the agencies said in a Monday release.
– The Business Times

Singapore’s non-oil exports expand 16.5% in March, beating forecasts and rising for 5th straight month
The rise, came after shipments jumped 21.5 per cent in February, the strongest growth in five years albeit with a low base in the previous year, 8.6 per cent in January, 9.1 per cent in December and 15.6 per cent in November.
– The Straits Times

Singapore’s cost-conscious businesses drive growth of contracting market
The contracting market in Singapore is set for impressive growth this quarter, according to recruitment experts Hays.
– SMB World Asia

Manufacturing sector has to adopt emerging new tech to stay competitive, say experts
A new wave of technological change is sweeping across the global manufacturing sector, and factories here are positioning themselves to be at the heart of this transformation.
– The Straits Times

First of 57 trains with new signalling system starts service
Shortly before 8.30am on Sunday (April 16), a 50-strong crowd gathered on the train platform at Ang Mo Kio Station, craning their necks whenever a train approached, their cameras at the ready.
– Today Online

HDB: Woodlands will be the star of the north
Woodlands is set to undergo a massive transformation over the next five to 10 years under the Housing Board’s Remaking Our Heartland (ROH) programme.
– The New Paper

What skills does Singapore need for the future economy?
We live in a time when roughly half of the jobs in 2020 are not yet known to us, and conversely, half of the jobs today will be extinct.
– Today Online

Most have switched to 3G as 2G shuts down tomorrow
With a day to go before the 2G mobile network shuts down fully, construction worker M Rajesh, 29, is relieved that he had just migrated to 3G and had no loss of network.
– Today Online

Feature photo Jason Goh
Find our previous morning news feature photos in the AEC News Today Morning News Feature Photos gallery where you will find a pictorial display of daily life throughout the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

Introducing The AEC News Today Mobile App

In an era of hectic schedules where time is precious, the AEC News Today mobile app enables you to stay up to date with the latest Asean news on governance and policy issues affecting the Asean Community while you are on the move and whenever you have a few minutes to spare.

See full details, including our AEC News Today Mobile App Privacy Statement here: Stay up to Date With The AEC News Today Mobile App

Download the AEC News Today mobile app from Google play or the App stores by clicking the icons below.

Singapore morning news by AEC News Today is your one stop source for Singapore news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities. It is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.

Singapore Morning News For April 17 added by John Le Fevre on April 17, 2017
View all posts by John Le Fevre →

Bio
Latest Posts

John Le Fevre

Thailand editor at AEC News Today

John is an Australian national with more than 40 years experience as a journalist, photographer, videographer, and copy editor.

He has spent extensive periods of time working in Africa and throughout Southeast Asia, with stints in the Middle East, the USA, and England.

He has covered major world events including Operation Desert Shield/ Storm, the 1991 pillage in Zaire, the 1994 Rwanda genocide, the 1999 East Timor independence unrest, the 2004 Asian tsunami, and the 2009, 2010, and 2014 Bangkok political protests.

In 1995 he was a Walkley Award finalist, the highest awards in Australian journalism, for his coverage of the 1995 Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) Ebola outbreak.

Prior to AEC News Today he was the deputy editor and Thailand and Greater Mekong Sub-region editor for The Establishment Post, predecessor of Asean Today.

In the mid-80s and early 90s he owned JLF Promotions, the largest above and below the line marketing and PR firm servicing the high-technology industry in Australia. It was sold in 1995.