Singapore target US$5.35b investments<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore is on target to achieve its goal of
\ndrawing S$7.5 billion (US$5.35 billion) in fixed-asset
\ninvestments this year, Economic Development Board (ADB) chairman
\nPhilip Yeo said.<\/p>\n
Yeo, speaking at a news conference Tuesday, expressed
\ndetermination to achieve his goal of hitting average annual
\ninvestments of S$10 billion over the next decade in order to
\nconstantly update Singapore's industrial base.<\/p>\n
\"At today's technology, the assets depreciate faster,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Fixed-asset investments totaled S$3.84 billion in the first
\nhalf of this year, 38 percent higher than the same period in
\n1995, Yeo said.<\/p>\n
The total for all of 1995 was a record S$6.8 billion.<\/p>\n
\"I think the job for Singapore is going to get tougher every
\nyear,\" Yeo said, citing competition for foreign investment from
\nsuch emerging and lower-cost locations as China, Vietnam,
\nIndonesia and the Philippines.<\/p>\n
Yeo also remained bullish about key industries like
\nelectronics and chemicals where the EDB is investing money.<\/p>\n
The EDB has the dual role of attracting private investment and
\nputting its own funds into starting up strategic industries,
\nserving as a magnet for private investment and then pulling out
\nwhen the firms have established themselves.<\/p>\n
The EDB currently administers a 1.3-billion-dollar fund,
\nincluding venture capital, for co-investment programs with
\nmultinational and Singapore companies on local and foreign
\nprojects.<\/p>\n
The EDB has so far poured a cumulative total of S$380 million
\ninto 13 projects under the co-investment scheme, compared to
\nS$225 million at the end of 1995, an EDB statement said.<\/p>\n
Six more projects requiring very high capital inputs, mostly
\nin chemicals and electronics, are currently under discussion and
\nshould be finalized in the next six-to-nine months, Yeo said.<\/p>\n
Yeo remained bullish about electronics, which accounts for
\nmore than half of Singapore's manufacturing output, despite the
\ncurrent slump resulting from excess inventories and weak demand,
\nparticularly in the crucial U.S. market.<\/p>\n
He said a recovery was expected to start in the fourth quarter
\nwith a projected surge in computer demand during the Christmas
\nholidays.<\/p>\n
\"We are optimistic. These are industries that go through
\ncycles,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/singapore-target-us535b-investments-1447893297",
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