Singapore Morning News For June 15

Singapore’s economic growth forecast raised to 2.5%
Economists surveyed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore have raised their growth forecast for the Singapore economy this year, up to 2.5% from 2.3% in the previous survey.
— Singapore Business Review

Lippo Malls to issue $120m worth of perpetual securities
Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail Trust (LMIRT) recently announced that it intends to issue $120m worth of fixed rate perpetual securities.
— Singapore Business Review

Video: A Look at What Makes Singapore Airlines the Best Airline in the World
According to a recent ranking by AirHelp, a company that helps passengers receive compensation from airlines, Singapore Airlines is the best airline in the world. Hardly much news in that. Not taking anything away from the coveted title, but there is rarely a list these days, especially in Southeast Asia, that Singapore does not top.
– AECNews Today

Why investors may find Singapore’s specialist clinic chains risky
There is a new thing going on in Singapore healthcare industry and investors are finding it riskier.
— Singapore Business Review

PM Lee denies claims made by siblings
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Wednesday (Jun 14) denied the allegations made by his siblings – Mr Lee Hsien Yang and Dr Lee Wei Ling – and said he was “very disappointed” that they chose to issue a statement publicising private family matters.
— Channel NewsAsia

Singapore firms fail to be proactive about risks
QBE Insurance’s The Risk of Regret report revealed that the top three risks encountered by businesses in the past 12 months were loss of income due to business interruption, business systems and computers getting hacked, and equipment breakdown.
— The Business Times

S’pore tourism must ‘up its game’ as Asian travellers get more picky
The Asian Attractions Expo 2017 by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) was opened yesterday by Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Trade and Industry Ms Low Yen Ling.
— Today Online

Singapore’s offshore assets to rise 8% until 2021
Bloomberg Markets reported that Singapore and Hong Kong will attract wealth from abroad at more than twice the pace of Switzerland over the next four years as Asia’s economic expansion draws cash from millionaires.
— Singapore Business Review

In Singapore, Prime Minister’s Siblings Are Taking Private Feud Public
In an unusually public escalation of a feud within Singapore’s first family, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s siblings have accused him of misusing his position to advance his personal agenda and of betraying the legacy of their father, Singapore’s first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew.
— The New York Times

Ferrero Announces Opening of Singapore Innovation Center
Ferrero announces the official opening of the Ferrero Innovation Center in Singapore: the company’s first Asian innovation center located at the heart of one of the world’s leading innovation ecosystems.
— PR Newswire

Singapore May marine fuel sales fall to second lowest this year
Sale of marine fuels in Singapore in May fell to 4.181 million tonnes, down 4.2 percent from the same period last year, the second lowest monthly sale by volumes this year, latest data from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) showed.
— Hellenic Shipping News

Yishun Park hawker centre to open in September
A new hawker centre located next to Yishun Park will open for business in September this year, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said on Wednesday (Jun 14).
— Channel NewsAsia

QUOINE Launches Fully Digital Crypto-Only Platform, Offers Negative Fees to Attract Liquidity
Global fintech firm QUOINE has launched a fully digital cryptocurrency exchange and trading platform called QRYPTOS, exclusively for cryptocurrency trading in beta version. QRYPTOS is currently in beta desktop version at www.qryptos.com.
— PR Newswire

Protecting the X-factor in Brand Singapore
GOING by headline indicators, Singapore’s country brand looks strong enough. The Lion City tops the world in “online presence” in the Global Cities Index released this month. In the 2016 Soft Power 30 ranking of countries by their soft power, Singapore moved up two places to break into the top
— The Business Times

ICC BASCAP provides input to enhance reform of Singapore Customs Act
The Singapore Government proposed revisions include provisions that would allow Customs to waive the mandatory submission of shipping manifests for vessels, airplanes or trains arriving in or departing from Singapore. As part of the Public Consultation process, BASCAP submitted comments to flag that the discretionary waiver of the submission of shipping manifests would weaken Singapore’s ability to control the flow of counterfeit goods into the country and prevent the transhipment/transit of counterfeit and pirated goods through Singapore.
— ICCWBO

US, Kenya, Singapore: AIG Completes Multinational Blockchain Insurance Test
Insurance giant American International Group (AIG) and UK global bank Standard Chartered have completed a blockchain pilot designed to simplify some of the industry’s most complicated insurance policies.
— CoinDesk

More Singapore contractors, consultants venturing abroad and securing projects: BCA
MORE Singapore contractors and consultants are venturing overseas and securing projects there, as the latest Construction Export Survey by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) showed.
— The Business Times

Lower liability cost could improve Singapore banks’ net interest margins
Maybank Kim Eng Research says it is optimistic that Singapore banks have some scope ahead to improve their liability management, which could result in higher net interest margins (NIMs).
— The Edge Markets

Lufthansa to launch Singapore-Munich Airbus A350 flights
Lufthansa will restart direct flights between Singapore and Munich from March 27 2018, providing German-bound travellers with an alternative to the established Singapore-Frankfurt route.
— Australian Business Traveller

Narrow Trading Range Expected For Singapore Bourse
The Singapore stock market has moved lower in two of three sessions since the end of the two-day winning streak in which it had collected almost 25 points or 0.7 percent. The Straits Times Index now rests just beneath the 3,255-point and it is looking at a steady start on Thursday.
— Business Insider

Lee Hsien Yang plans to leave Singapore
LEE Hsien Yang, the chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and younger brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, is planning to leave Singapore “for the foreseeable future”, in a move he feels “compelled” to make.
— The Business Times

Singapore Medical Group’s M&A deals to boost earnings by $1m
According to Maybank, Singapore Medical Group is expected to record a 3-yr EPS CAGR of 72% for FY16-19E. In addition, the FY17E EPS growth of 225% will be driven largely by the newly acquired Astra Women’s Specialist Group in Feb 2017 as well as the proposed acquisition of two pediatric clinics announced in Apr 2017. Astra should contribute c.50% of FY17E EPS.
— Singapore Business Review

E-scooter and bicycle trial kicks off at Science Park One
A six-month trial for personal mobility devices (PMDs) such as e-scooters and bicycles kicked off at Singapore Science Park One on Wednesday (Jun 14).
— Channel NewsAsia

Transit passenger fined S$1,800 for shoplifting spree at Changi Airport
A 20-year-old Vietnamese woman was fined S$1,800 on Wednesday (Jun 14) for shoplifting a Longchamp bag and various cosmetics while in transit at Changi Airport.
— Channel NewsAsia

Feature photo Leakhena Khat
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).

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 June 15 added by Leakhena Khat on June 15, 2017
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Leakhena Khat

Leakhena is a junior journalist at AEC News Today who is also currently studying International Relations, which she finds adds perspective to her work reporting on the Asean Community.

“I love what I am doing so much as it gives me a lot of great experience and provides challenges to my mind.