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There has been increased efforts to deliver on Singapore's commitment to peak emissions before 2030 and achieve net-zero by 2050. Under a new requirement passed in Parliament earlier on September 10, existing buildings in Singapore that are deemed energy-intensive must implement measures to improve their energy use or face a fine of up to S$150,000. With rising mandatory sustainability regulations...

The US rate cut has finally been announced officially at 50 basis points, in a supersized move that is aimed at boosting a cooling job market, while continuing to push down on inflation. Dan Chang, Investment Specialist and Trading Representative at PhillipCapital, shares his views on what does this means for Singapore markets as we head into 2025.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

According to reports, Mars Wrigley, the producer of snacks like Mars and Snickers chocolate bars has maintained its title as the world's biggest confectionery firm in 2023 with $22bn of sales. The company is targeting high growth markets including  Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand…markets that have significant opportunities for growth and innovation for the snacking cate...

Singapore has once again emerged as the ASEAN leader in energy transition efforts, for the second year in a row. That's according to the latest annual survey by the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore (SEAS) with 250 industry professionals from the energy sector. However, nearly one-third of energy professionals believe the city-state’s renewable energy targets need more aggressive action....

According to recent research, the economic footprint of Gen Alpha is expected to reach $5.46tn by 2029. Born into a digital world, this generation is set to reshape the financial landscape. To this end, OCBC has come up with an initiative to engage the new generation of potential customers. Come October, OCBC will serve and enable ‘Gen Alpha’, digital natives born after 2009, to bank digitally via...

Networking and collaborating with people outside of your industry may not be an easy task. To that end, event companies are coming up with cross-industry conferences that enable attendees to not just gain new knowledge but also participate in some corporate matchmaking which can lead to collaborative business success. Jasper Donat , Chief Executive Officer of live media and events company, Branded...

According to a report from Bloomberg’s energy research service Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BloombergNEF), Singapore is forecast to have the largest share of passenger electric vehicles in South-east Asia by 2040. A total of 80 per cent of all passenger vehicles here are expected to be electric by that year,   compared with a regional average of 24 per cent. What's pushing Singapore ahead? And wi...

This week, thousands gathered at the Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference (APPEC) in Singapore to talk oil and the broader market, with China’s slowdown and the structural shifts in the global energy mix taking the spotlight. APPEC is the biggest Asian energy conference held annually in the city state, and is known as a cornerstone of the energy industry for the past 40 years. What are the major conc...

Investing in Australian real estate has long been an attractive proposition for Singaporeans. The 2022-2023 financial year saw Singapore buyers acquired A$300m of residential real estate in Australia. However, the housing market is in crisis with Australia  struggling with a shortage of homes as building approvals fall to their lowest in more than a decade in 2024. How will this impact overseas in...

There’s been a sharp decline in CEOs’ prioritization of sustainability - that’s according to the latest research from Bain & Co. Instead AI, growth, inflation, and geopolitical uncertainty have risen to the top of their agendas. That said, this slowing momentum on sustainability could come with a tangible cost. Bain estimates a temperature increase of 2 degrees Celsius could cut $6 trillion fr...

35 per cent of Singapore's C-suites regard Generative AI as a critical business priority for Singapore C-suites, and 52 per cent of them place it among their top three priorities.  That’s according to new research commissioned by Salesforce, a leading provider of cloud-based customer relationship management software. However, the study highlighted that many businesses do not actually know how AI c...

Late last month (Aug 23), the Singapore dollar advanced to its strongest in almost a decade, hitting levels last seen in 2014 against the greenback. Two weeks on, is the trend continuing?  In addition, the Sing dollar is also not far off highs against the Japanese currency.  Yeap Junrong , Market Strategist at IG gives his take on the SGD / USD pair, the SGD / Yen pair, and shares his trading stra...

Mobile users are keenly aware of the growing security, fraud and privacy threats when they use mobile apps. Nevertheless, cybercrime and online fraud are growing at an alarming rate, impacting millions across the globe. The so-called 'scamdemic' shows no signs of slowing down. The rising number of mobile users worldwide, projected to reach 6.3 billion by 2030, according to the Cyber Security Agenc...

The first trading day of September was the worst day for the markets since the early August dips, but that August dip quickly went back in the green and once again, new highs in the market were tested on S&P 500.    So as markets have started out September in red again, can we look at the August performance and expect something similar and if so, would that make the red start to September a bu...

The European Commission told automakers in June that it would impose extra duties of up to 38.1 per cent on imported Chinese electric cars from July in a move that China called protectionist. More recently, Canada and the US too imposed tariffs, accusing China of subsidising its EV industry, giving its car makers an unfair advantage. How large is the Chinese EV market vis-à-vis the global EV marke...

Dual-key apartment units are usually associated with private property like condominiums. Recently you might have come across news articles in The Straits Times and The Business Times about HDB flats being turned into dual-unit homes. Is this concept more common than we know of? How can HDB owners do this without getting into trouble? What are the implications to the HDB market?  Brandon Zheng , Di...

Is your company ready to meet ESG reporting requirements? It can be complicated to navigate differing regulations and requirements if you are looking at cross market reporting.  The Sustainable Finance Institute Asia has announced the appointment of Environmental, Social, and Governance data and technology solutions company, STACS ESGpedia, as the official ESG platform partner for the Single Acces...

Singapore has joined the top ranks of real estate markets in terms of transparency. This is according to JLL and LaSalle's biennial Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI) which placed Singapore in the “Highly Transparent” group of markets under the latest Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI). The report serves as a guide for companies operating in foreign markets.  Dr Chua Yang Lia...

Data storing is an important part of our working lives. As long as you use a computer regularly, you’d have to store data one way or another. Much of this stored data is used only once before it goes to the archives, where it continues to take up space and resources. “Dark data” refers to the vast amount of unstructured and untapped information that organisations collect but do not actively analys...

Malaysia has called off the search for a 48-year old woman who fell into a sinkhole after nine days of painstaking efforts. What could have caused the 8-meter deep sinkhole in Kuala Lumpur that swallowed the Indian tourist on August 23? What should we know about sinkholes? Is Singapore less susceptible to sinkhole formation? Associate Professor Wu Wei from NTU School of Civil and Environmental Eng...

For the past few days, investors had been keenly awaiting the earnings release from California-based Nvidia, which has become a bellwether for the tech sector owing to its huge role in the development of AI chips. Many have grown used to outsized profits and revenues and were left disappointed after the tech titan failed to live up to investor hopes with its latest results. Yeap Junrong, Market St...

HDB resale flats have been making headlines with high prices and this trend has been going on for a few months with many reports of new record numbers being set. According to property site 99.co, a 3-room HDB flat sold for a record $860,000 in Bukit Merah. Looking at its price, is it likely that the buyer paid more than $400K cash over valuation? Singer-songwriter Taufik Batisah , who is also the...

The retail landscape has dramatically transformed since the GSS began in 1994. In addition to shopping events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, there are now regular monthly sales on double-digit days which can lead to discount fatigue. As consumer expectations shift, how can retailers future-proof their operations, stay relevant and achieve success? Yash Thakker , Director of Cloud Consultin...

These days when you go to a supermarket or a convenience store, the beverage aisles look really interesting especially with a frenzy of functional beverages, which are designed to do more than just taste good, but also enhances mental or physical health Going by recent research by business intelligence company Euromonitor, this market will only grow thirstier as the global functional beverages mar...

Companies across the world, both buyers and sellers, are increasingly turning to the Mergers & Acquisitions market to drive further growth and value creation. Such consolidation often results in significant changes to the internal structure of a company. How will employees respond? What will employers do? What are the benefits of a consolidation for employees? And challenges too, for that matt...